Matagot
by Ireina Kurotsuki
Summary: AU. LxLightxL. A matagot is a shapeshifting creature that often takes the form of a cat, usually one wearing boots and is said to bring good fortune to its master, if it is not feeling particularly malicious. Rated for safety.
1. Burning Or, A Strange Inheritance

**Matagot 1- Burning, Or; A Strange Inheritance**

Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note. If I did, everything after the Yotsuba arc would not have occured, L and Light would've hooked up two eps after the chain went on and Near, Mello and Matt would've come in in some other fashion (Just because they rock). I do, however own some of the legends attributed with the 'Matagot', (which is a real French myth, who'da thunk it?) and the general AU.

**Warning: AU, Yaoi/Shonen-Ai. If you don't like, please don't read! Rated for later content, possible swearing, definite limes and possible violence. LightxL, possible side pairings to be decided.  
**

**Flames shall be extinguished with great force because it is bush-fire season and I hate bush-fires. Many Australians do.**

Credit goes to my beta, **TsumeLover666** for an excellent job, and a swift return!

This is my first attempt at a Death Note fic, and I hope they're in character for the situation they've been put into... Hope you all enjoy and please leave me a review to let me know how I'm doing so far! It is definitely an AU, but if you got past the summary you'd have been expecting that so...

Smile! -

Ireina

* * *

The dark-haired youth stood with hunched shoulders at the gate bordering the small farm on the edge of the village that stood just at the fringes of the woodland in which his home lay somewhere to the north. With pale skin, almost abnormally milky-white in its pallor and yet with hair dark as a raven's wing he was an oddity, even if one was to discount the almond-shaped eyes with the pupils that were so dilated that his eyes appeared to be completely black in colour, ringed with dark circles.

A lip quirked in sardonic amusement as the hue and cry was raised in the shed these particular farmers used for storage of their winter hay and oats (for both the livestock and humans respectively).

"Mould! And look, here! This whole bag's full of the rot!"

"This 'un's had the mice at it!"

"I can't believe it! This is the second time!"

"It's all the fault of that shapeshifter- that demon-spawn as what lives in the damned forest!"

"I told you he was a matagot!" He chuckled somewhat sourly at that one.

So it was 'matagot' they called him now. A shapeshifting demon that often took the form of a cat, bringing fortune to a master, and ruin to those that took its fancy, according to the French who claimed the myth as their own.

Not that he was denying anything. 'Matagot' was merely a new name, with several fanciful notions added to ancient myth.

They all stormed from their barn, and one of the nastier daughters saw him, yelling out "There's the filthy demon!"

'_I take offence at that one, I am perfectly clean.'_

"Look! His eyes are glowing with mischief! I told you he was a matagot! I _told_ you he must be with those hellish black eyes with those marks around them. Not mentioning the waxen colour of his features!"

'_Wasn't it just this week she cornered me and praised their beauty in a weak attempt at seduction?'_ he wondered with jaded amusement.

It was not his fault his appearance was what it was. If he couldn't sleep, how on Earth were his pupils to shrink and reveal the true colour of his eyes? The same thing was at fault for the dark rings around his eyes, though the paleness was mostly a gift from his mother.

"You'd better just admit what you are, demon-boy!" she yelled furiously.

He remained silent. _'Hell hath no fury… I have no obligation to answer these simple folk. Especially with all the insults they have paid me.'_

"You ruined our crops three times running,"

'_I had thought they just said this had happened twice.'_

", Mrs. Applecroft's child was born _dead_ and the cows have been giving birth to deformed calves!"

At that, he decided he'd had enough. Even if he _did _have the power, he would never cause any child to die, nor would he have anything to do with something as trivial as causing deformed calves.

"Her child was a breech-birth. There was nothing I nor anyone could have done to prevent it being born with its cord around its neck. As for the harvest, if your children had not been lazy and had gotten in the harvest on time then it would have been dry and rot would not have set in. You're actually very lucky the barn hasn't set alight yet."

"You see!" the scorned woman said triumphantly. "He's admitting it! He just said we are lucky it didn't set alight earlier! I'll bet that was his next plan!"

He sighed, deciding to quit while he was behind. Nothing he could say would dissuade them; they were quite determined to blame their problems on him. Rolling his eyes he slouched further, saying nothing as the situation snowballed.

**--**

A young man, only just into his seventeenth summer had been making his way home, light brown hair tousled by the breezes wafting through the village, when he had heard the ruckus coming from the central square, where markets were generally held.

Frowning, he picked up his pace, autumn-hued eyes curious. It wasn't market-day for another few days at least you see, so he hadn't a clue what all the commotion was about.

He arrived at the square, joining the fringes of the crowd. Being well-liked for both his natural charm and good looks, he easily melted between the jostling crowds to nearer the front for a better look with surprising ease.

At the middle of the square was the focus of the crowd- a hastily erected wooden platform with a pole in the centre with a large bundle of old wood arranged around the feet of a pale young man who couldn't have been much older than he himself with a blank, expressionless face, eyes currently hidden by mussed black locks of hair.

As soon as he saw that, he didn't need to see the ropes on his wrists to know the other young man was tied there.

"For the crime of being a shapeshifting demon, by the name of 'matagot' you are to be burned at the stake 'till dead." announced the village chief from the platform.

He frowned. Shapeshifting demon? Superstition if you asked _him_. There was absolutely no way anyone would actually _allow_ someone to be burned for such a foolish reason.

"Yeah! Burn 'im!"

"Burn the demon!"

Apparently there _were_ some fools who would. But, surely when they asked the customary question _someone_ would speak up for him.

"Be there any who object?" yelled the village chief atop the platform.

There was an eerie silence, save for the shuffling and shifting of the crowd, only broken once.

"Just _burn_ him already!" shouted a ragged child near the back in impatience. The crowd roared in agreeance, surging forward around him.

In response, the speaker on the platform accepted a burning brand from one of the village elders at the front of the crowd, lifting it theatrically in the air to roars of approval. He was about to touch it to what would be the dark-haired male's funeral pyre when said male lifted his head, as though sensing the gold-brown eyes now staring at him, and his oddly dark eyes locked onto the teen's own.

'_This is __**wrong**__.'_ he thought. _'This man grew up here with us! He can't be some legendary demon! Magic doesn't exist anyway, and it is __**wrong**__ to burn an innocent. His only crime is being a hermit!'_

"_I_ object!" the teen yelled, forcing his way to the very front and hauling himself onto the platform.

The crowd stared, along with the chief. "_What_ did y'say?" he asked disbelievingly, hand holding the brand dangerously close to the wood.

"Light, think _carefully_!" pleaded the young man's father, trying to make his way through the whispering crowd to his son.

The one about to be burnt sent him a quizzical stare. Pulling his eyes from that stare and ignoring his father, Light continued. "This is _wrong_ and you all know it! He grew up here, and we all know him." He turned to the crowd; arms spread wide, palms up. "How could he be some demon when even the meanest beggar knows they aren't real?!"

"Shut up!"

"Burn them _both_! If he wants to protect the demon so badly, let him join it in the flames!"

"It's a legend and we all know that in our hearts! How can you allow someone to be killed for being a myth?!"

The crowd set up a chant. "Burn them both! Burn them both! Burn them both!" they all yelled, angry at being interrupted in their sport.

There was so little excitement in the village, but a good demon burning would be something _interesting_, and would be something to talk about in the long weeks to come.

"No! Don't burn our son! He doesn't understand what he's doing!" pleaded the boy's father, still trying to force his way to the platform, hindered by unmoving crowd members.

Ignoring the hullabaloo from the crowd, the chief asked Light, "Will you stand witness for him?" the hand holding the brand trembling a hair's breadth closer to the wood at the accused youth's feet, dangerously close to lighting the bundles.

"Yes! Of course I will if that will stop this madness!" Light said hurriedly, eyeing the flame warily.

The older man sighed, turning and dropping the flame to the cobblestone of the square, whereupon it was hastily snuffed by the elders there.

Before they could change their minds, Light moved forward and began to shove aside the wood so he could release the prisoner tied tightly to the stake.

"Why did you do that?" asked the one tied there quietly in a hiss.

"Because this innocent has elected to stand witness for the accused, the law states that we are not allowed to execute either of them." announced the chief.

The crowd began to roar in protest. He held up a hand and they fell quiet. "However we are allowed to enforce a maximum sentence of exile. I think that in this case, to prevent young Light being cornered and murdered in the backfields on his way home we'll have to exile him too."

"No! Light!"

"What! But that's not-"

"It is _final_. You will have to try your luck in the world. You will _not_ be allowed to receive your inheritance from your parents before you go either." the elder added, eyeing Light's father whom had a mutinous glare in place. "That demon you so staunchly defended will be your only inheritance. Matagot are said to bring their master fortune well enough, and you have saved this one's life. Perhaps he will be a better inheritance than any of us can guess. Pack whatever you can into a small bag and leave by sunset. Both of you."

"Wait, _sunset_?" Light whispered, face shocked.

Both the chief and the youth he'd saved gave him a sympathetic look from their respective positions.

"You heard me." the chief said gently. "Be gone by sunset. I cannot guarantee the safety of either of you after that time."

The crowd began to drift off, disappointed that there was to be no burning, only an exiling, and not a small amount of anger was present also.

Light did not remember later undoing the knots on the other young man's wrists and feet, but numbly he carried out this task the way he carried out any task given him, thoroughly and well. After the knots around the other's ankles had been untied, Light was still kneeling there, in shock more than anything else.

Wordlessly a pale hand stretched down to him, red-raw around the wrists. The ropes had been tied cruelly tight around his delicate flesh, though there had been no protest at the time. Gently this hand took Light's wrist, pulling him effortlessly to his feet, despite the slender stature of the youth pulling him.

"Let's go, Light. I'll help you pack your things. I'm sure your mother will give you plenty of food, though our harvest was as bad as any other…" Light's father said sorrowfully, sending a glare at the dark-haired youth beside his son.

Numbly Light nodded, following after his father. The other young man also followed, staring at him. Finally Light had had enough.

"_What_?" snapped the upset teen, annoyed at the constant staring. There was no response, though the other continued staring.

Light swung away from his father and went the other way, willing to take the long way if it meant shaking the silent follower, to no avail.

"_Why_ are you following _me_?! Don't you need to get your own things?" snapped Light, swinging back around to face the dark haired male who was standing behind him, having stopped when he did.

"I do not have other clothing apart from what I wear now, and am not accustomed to eating much. I have no need to collect anything." replied the other matter-of-factly, apparently unbothered by the harsh tones.

Light was taken aback by this. "What?"

"The villagers would not serve a 'demon' and I had not much from my mother anyway." He shrugged. "It is of little consequence. I survive."

Light continued walking, a thoughtful look on his face.

**--**

Sunset came and the two young men stood at the road out of the village. Light's family had wanted to come and see him off, but he had resisted, not wanting to see their distress.

Honestly, he was half-regretting saving the other. He'd never planned on leaving the village- he would have led a perfectly comfortable (if slightly boring) life as the sole inheritor of his parents, though he would not have been wealthy, as they were not rich, he would have had a fulfilling life.

Now, because he had too active a conscience he was to be sent away with barely anything, leaving everything and everyone he'd ever known, not to mention that he hadn't the faintest idea about what the rest of the country was like, not to mention where the city lay.

"This way." the other said, walking in the opposite direction from the forest, his shoulders hunched.

"Why that way?"

He stopped, half turning his head towards Light. "The nearest city is this way. If you are to be repaid for what you did, then to a city we must go. Unless you would prefer that we wandered, and you were left to make your own way in the world. Though that would sit ill with me, given I am bound to you until I repay my debt to you under the Law…" he frowned slightly at the idea. Light wondered why he'd said 'law' as though it was capitalised.

"The law says no such thing, the chief was mocking me. I'm happy enough for you to tag along with me though, given you appear to know what you're doing and where we're going."

"Well then." the dark-haired male said, turning to continue as though the issue was settled.

Light caught up to him, grasping his slender forearm in one hand, to which the other froze. "Wait. If we're travelling together I might as well know your name. You were always out of the village, so I never really met you, and I'm afraid we've not been formally introduced given the circumstance…" He trailed off, before determinedly pasting a smile on his face. "Besides, I can't just keep calling out 'Hey, you' all the time."

Darkened eyes travelled from the hand on his arm up to Light's face. He took Light's hand between thumb and forefinger, not moving his gaze from Light's face as he tugged the hand from his arm, dropping it. "You may refer to me as L."

"I can't just refer to you as a letter! Surely you have a _name_." Light exclaimed, hiding his offence at being treated as though he were contaminated.

"I do, though there is much that can be done to someone if you know their true name. And, while I do not _think_ you mean me harm at present, what you don't know you can't tell." L explained.

"What on Earth do you mean? There is no way something as simple as someone knowing your mere name could hurt you. Unless you're suggesting those fools in the village were right to believe in magic." Light said scornfully.

L just returned his gaze, eyes somewhat vacant. "They were not entirely wrong." he said softly, before returning to following his invisible path.

Light blinked, before rolling his eyes and falling into step behind the odd young man he now knew as L.

**--**

Soon the orange tinged light from the setting sun melted into pink-red then a blood-dark red before finally falling into the strange period between day and night- dusk.

A lone farm came into view, a large barn behind it.

"We will shelter here for the night." stated L.

Light eyed the farm warily. "Couldn't we just keep walking? We'd reach the city quicker, and we could rest in some comfort rather than in a barn that's probably filled with lice and all manner of other pests."

L looked at him, an eyebrow raised. "If you wished to be accosted by something. Besides, it is at least another day's walk and you will need to rest at some point, now seems just as good a time as any. I would ask what is wrong with the barn also, as it will keep the wind away and keep us dry. There ought to be some straw or hay you can use for bedding if need be also. I would not worry about lice- or mice for that matter." he added with a small smile as though at a private joke. "They will not bother us."

"What do you mean 'I' will need to rest? What about you?" Light asked, picking up on the small oddity.

"I do not sleep. I cannot. You couldn't have thought my eyes were _naturally_ black? I would have thought you'd notice the circles under my eyes at least, you seemed rather more observant than the rest of those simple villagers…"

Light bristled. "I did not make a habit of staring at your face, nor your eyes, so I had not observed. Not that I'd have had much of a chance to, with your self-enforced isolation."

They stopped as L pushed the barn door quietly open.

"It was not entirely self-enforced." L said softly, staring tranquilly at Light, eyes glittering strangely in the light from the moon now appeared in the sky, apparently unbothered by his harsh tone. "And I was not chastising you; therefore you have no need to become hostile. Eat something, and then sleep. You will need your strength for tomorrow."

The seventeen-year old frowned, but entered the barn and decided he might as well obey, seeing the sense in the suggestion. Before he actually began to eat the food he'd removed from the pack he looked at L. The dark-haired male was not watching him, but rather staring out the open door, eyes narrowed ever so slightly as he stared at the thin sliver of moonlight peeking through the door.

"Would you like something to eat?" Light asked.

L brought his dark eyes down to Light's hazel-brown ones in surprise. "Oh, no thank you. I am not terribly hungry." He continued to stare into Light's eyes a second before adding, "Thank you for the kind offer, however." as an afterthought.

Light shrugged and began to eat as L returned to staring out the opened door. He finished his food and looked around for something to sleep on. He sighed and went to the pile of straw (or hay, he wasn't sure, his family had grown food crops, not horse crops) in the corner. It would be rough and prickly, but at least it would be warm and hopefully clean. He curled up atop the straw with a goodnight to his companion, which earned him a distant reply. While sleep did manage to elude him for several minutes he eventually fell into dreaming.

Unbeknownst to him, his dark-haired companion watched him sleep for just long enough to ensure he was actually sleeping, before he slipped out the barn door.

**--**

Light woke up warmer than he'd thought he'd be. He didn't know what had woken him, as the sun had not yet risen, though judging by the lighting it wasn't far off.

Sleepily he rubbed his eyes as he sat up, the small blanket now covering him falling off as he did. He frowned slightly. Surely that hadn't been there when he'd gone to sleep?

He looked around for L, but his companion was nowhere to be found. Light's frown deepened.

_L_ was nowhere to be found, but there was a cat sitting in the doorway, staring at him. The animal had eyes so dark a grey as to be nearly black while its fur was white, with both ears and the tip of its tail black.

Light stood and slowly moved towards the cat, which calmly watched his approach, grey eyes serene.

Tentatively he reached out and caressed the surprisingly soft fur along its back. It started slightly, fur puffing out a bit at the impulsive caress though it did not scratch him. Encouraged by this, Light began to scratch the animal behind its ears and under its chin. It looked at him, trying to keep its unnerving stare on him, but it soon caved in and could not resist the scratching, tilting its head up, eyes closed as it began to purr.

Light smiled. "I wonder who you belong to, hm?" he asked aloud, continuing to scratch. "You're not a thin cat, but you're not well-kept either." he mused.

He picked up the cat (inadvertently discovering it to be male as he did) and carried it with several loud yowls of protest to the pack which contained his things. He reached into the pack and pulled out a piece of salted meat, tearing a piece off and offering it to the somewhat ruffled cat, which was now glaring at him.

It stared first at the food, then at him, and then back to the food, the angry swishing of its tail subsiding as it appeared to debate whether or not to accept.

Light kept his hand extended patiently for perhaps a minute before the cat reached his decision. It stood and slowly and warily went to his hand, nudging the morsel before stepping back and looking at Light's face.

When the food was neither dropped, nor withdrawn the cat leant forward to take the meat between its teeth, carrying it a little ways away before actually eating it. It sat in that spot for a while longer, refusing to be coaxed back to Light before it left through the door, through which Light could see his namesake stealing through to fill the barn. Light tilted his head to the side.

"What an odd cat." he remarked as he turned from the doors, taking out a small bit of bread for his breakfast.

He was just about to eat the piece he'd torn off when he heard a familiar voice say, "What cat?" in an inquisitive voice.

Light turned his head to see his companion L, hair somewhat ruffled. "Where _were_ you?"

L blinked. "Finding a faster way to travel to the city. You wished to get there as quickly as possible so as to return to comfort did you not?" he answered, gesturing vaguely out the door.

Light stood and went to see what the strange young man meant. Outside, tethered to a nearby tree stood an old mare.

"An old horse?" he asked sceptically. "Surely it won't be able to carry either of us let alone both."

"She will. You can take the horse and I'll follow you."

"Won't we become separated then? You can't keep up with a horse, even one as slow as this."

"Perhaps. Nevertheless, I will keep up." L said with an enigmatic smile.

Light shrugged. "I will eat, and then we can leave. Which direction will I need to take?"

"Head towards the Reaine Forest, and you ought to find the road. Just follow the signs once you get to it.

Light nodded, not seeming to find it odd that L knew that he could read (unlike the majority of the villagers.)

"I will go ahead now, or I'll never get there."

Light nodded once more in acknowledgement as L left.

**--**

"You have arrived then." L greeted Light as the teenager entered the city, half-dead in the saddle.

"Oh. Have I? I'm not sure, I was under the impression that I'd died a few kilometres back and this was Hell." snapped Light as he clumsily slid from the horse.

"Light is angry?"

"Not in the _slightest_."

"That is good then. Come, I have something I must do. Incidentally do you have anything I might trade?" L asked, oblivious to the heavy sarcasm in Light's voice.

Light was intrigued, despite his aches and pains. "Why would you want something to trade?"  
"Because we will need coin in order to stay at an inn somewhere."

"I really don't have that much, except for food and I don't think it would be wise to trade that away.

L nodded thoughtfully. "It will be fine then. Sit with the horse here a minute and wait. I'll be back soon." He started to leave, but turned his head. "You should eat something, you look hungry."

With that the raven-haired man left (much to Light's irritation) leaving Light to his own devices.

**--**

L stood outside the door to one of many ramshackle houses along the street. He had not yet raised his hand to knock, but the door suddenly flung open before he had the chance.

"It's about time you arrived." said a surprisingly quiet tone considering the gusto with which the door had been opened. "I expect you'll wish to ask about the usual?"

"I see I was expected. But what do you mean 'the usual'?" questioned L as he entered the house.

Despite it's decrepit outside, the inside of the house was neat and tidy with well-worn but tasteful furniture and several cushions. The one concession to the mess that covered the outside was the papers sprawled across a somewhat battered desk.

"Of course you were expected, your mother told me you would come eventually." L nodded as though this explained everything. "And, as for 'the usual', there are many like yourself who come to me and ask a certain question. So, ask away. I'd offer you tea or some such thing but I don't think you'll be wanting to stay long."

"How do I gain my freedom?" came the straightforward question.

The other looked surprisedly at the dark-haired young man, whom sat atop the worn divan with his feet on the cushions, legs either side of him in a fashion almost catlike. Add a swishing tail and pointy ears…

"Not the usual question then." mused the older man. "Of course, to answer that I would have to know what sort of freedom you mean."

"Isn't there only one sort of freedom? I want to be unbound from the rules that keep such as us chained." L said with polite puzzlement etched onto his features.

"Ah, I can not answer you that."

"Whyever not? _You_ gained freedom didn't you?"

The older man smiled gently. "I merely chose a different chain, young one." For a moment he appeared older than he was, and world-weary. "The best any of us can hope for is, when the time comes to choose, to know which path will allow us to choose the manner of our binding."

L frowned, deep in thought. "The manner of my binding?"

"Your choice will come soon I believe, and will entwine with the path you have chosen to walk."

"I chose no path." L said sharply. "What do you mean?"

The older man shook his head wearily. "I am unable to explain it to you. I've overstepped my boundaries already. I will give you what assistance I may, and if you will return tonight I will teach you what I am able."

"I am bound to the safety of another, and therefore can't leave him alone for long." L said reluctantly.

"One has caught you already? I thought you would be one of the last of this generation to be caught, if ever. So it begins already does it?"

L was silent.

"Then I will do what I can in the time we have given to us."

The older man left the room and L heard him rummaging for a brief time before he heard a soft 'clinking' noise.

"Here." the older man said softly, returning with a small leather purse which he handed to L. "Make good use of this."

Knowing better than to argue with this particular older man L accepted the purse, stowing it somewhere in the folds of his unusually loose clothing.

"I will return." he told the older man, who nodded by way of farewell.

**--**

He was unsurprised to find Light dozing against a tree-trunk with the horse lipping lazily at the grass nearby, he'd half-expected it, what with there being a distinct lack of horses (and therefore riding opportunities) in their home-village.

He _was_ surprised to note the colour of Light's eyes as he crouched down and woke him up. The light of the setting sun caught the brown-gold of the younger male's eyes, turning them to a captivating yet eerie shade of burnished red-bronze. L froze as he leaned closer and looked into those strange eyes.

"Took your time, L." the owner of said eyes grumbled sleepily with a yawn. "Where'd you- _what_ are you staring at?!" he demanded, waking up proper as he noticed the other's darkened eyes staring into his. "Is there something on my face?"

L was silent for another second or so before deigning to answer.

"Your eyes…"

"What of them? And could you move to the side so I may sit properly? I'll hit you if I try at the moment."

Ignoring this request, L leaned even closer, frowning slightly. Without realising it Light froze, not a breath issuing from his lungs.

"Your eyes are… a rather strange shade of red." L commented distractedly, moving back to crouch to the side of Light. "It's really quite a lovely colour." he added.

Light sat up, taking air into his suddenly starved lungs. "_What_?"

"Come." L said, standing with Light following suit.

"Where are we going, and _what_ precisely did you mean when you said that my eyes were a 'lovely colour'?" Light demanded.

"I did not say anything of the sort. I merely commented that your eyes were an odd shade of red, and then I added that I thought the shade quite lovely. I mentioned nothing to do with your _eyes_ being lovely."

Light gave him a disbelieving look. "Splitting hairs aren't you?"

Ignoring Light, L continued to walk on. "And in answer to your first question, I am going to an inn called the Dancing Cat. That is where we will stay the night."

* * *

So? Like it? Don't like it? Please remember that although I appreciate constructive criticism, I will not accept flaming. It's immature and childish quite frankly and I've better things to do than waste time (and energy) replying to such insults. Hope you can leave me a review or two!

At any rate, I hope you enjoyed reading this, and I hope to have chapter two typed and posted soon!

Smile! -  
Ireina


	2. The Dancing Cat Inn

**Matagot 2- The Dancing Cat Inn  
**

* * *

Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note. If I did, everything after the Yotsuba arc would not have occured, L and Light would've hooked up two eps after the chain went on and Near, Mello and Matt would've come in in some other fashion (Just because they rock). I do, however own some of the legends attributed with the 'Matagot', (which is a real French myth, who'da thunk it?) and the general AU.

**Warning: AU, Yaoi/Shonen-Ai. If you don't like, please don't read! Rated for later content, possible swearing, definite limes and possible violence. LightxL, possible side pairings to be decided.  
**

**Flames shall be extinguished with great force because it is bush-fire season and I hate bush-fires. Many Australians do.**

Credit goes to my beta, **TsumeLover666** for an excellent job, and a swift return!

**Dedicated to my first reviewers! (italics anonymous reviewers)  
**

thitewiger

Violet Velvetine

Great Aunt Florence

love lawliet

Amorpheous

TheQueen-of-CandyLand

FacelessIdol

_anabel sinclair_

_Hi!_

_Voice_

Le.Moldeh

Translucent Darkness

just a rambling romantic

I feel I really must apologise that I haven't been replying to your reviews- I've just been rather overwhelmed with all my Grade Twelve stuff, so I've had troubles updating all my stories etc..

Which includes replying to my reviewers. Also- to my anonymous reviewers- if you leave an e-mail, I will then be better able to respond to any questions, as some of them I couldn't answer on the main story without giving certain things away.

Here's chapter two, hoping you all enjoy! I'll try to type chapter 3 as quickly as possible (in between Biology, Chemistry, Christian Studies, English and Maths B assignments... --;)

* * *

The two young men came to a stop at the front of a tall brick building, not shabby in appearance, but not in the most opulent of surroundings either. It had a sign hanging from a wrought iron framework bar which that featured a white cat on its hind legs that wore black boots and a large hat with an even larger feather. Above this somewhat eye-catching picture were the words: _'The Inn of the Dancing Cat'_ in neat, easy to read black lettering.

L walked rather briskly through the door and up to the bar, where a man with a neatly trimmed blonde beard was wiping a glass with a white cloth, which he set down when L reached the counter.

"And what would you be needing, sir?"

L gestured to Light. "A room for the night for both myself and my companion."

The barkeep looked in L's gestured direction. "Your master you mean." L nodded the affirmative. "I do have a room, but it'll cost your master a silver piece and five coppers."

"Why so much?" L asked, extracting six coppers from the small purse the older man had given him earlier and handing them to the other, who took the coins with no fuss, stowing them in a purse on his belt, handing L a brass key in return.

Light shot L a suspicious look, which the barkeep thankfully didn't seem to notice.

"The Duke of Felrawthy's entourage is returning from an audience with the King. Much of the accommodation is taken this night by the outriders and unneeded servants. That's your key and the room ought to be the only one with the door still open."

L nodded thoughtfully. "Thank you."

As they began to ascend the stairs, Light hissed, "Why did he accept the six coppers? Wasn't it a _silver_ and _five_ coppers he wanted?"

"I gave him what he wanted."

Light raised a brow. "No you didn't, you gave him all coppers." he insisted.

"I am aware of that Light."

"You just said-"

"That I gave him what he wanted. If he wasn't satisfied, would he have given me the key?" L reasoned.

"Well I suppose not, but-"

"Then what is wrong?" L asked, turning the key with a click and smoothly pushing the wooden door open.

"I know what I saw." Light said stubbornly.

"I am certain that you do." L said, staring at him pensively.

**--**

Light frowned, staring at the food in front of him on the table. L had left only a little while ago, handing him the purse before he'd left.

What was niggling at him was the reason why L had told him to stay out of the inn's common room and that _"If you must drink, have it brought up to the rooms."_

Light had, of course, disobeyed, for no other reason than that he bristled at being told what to do by a youth who was obviously no older than he, and made actively defiant by the attitude L had, it was so, _so_… well it was one of the few things that had gotten under his skin.

Light stabbed irritably at a potato, continuing to eat, determined not to think about L.

Though, in all seriousness, what on Earth was that comment L had made earlier that evening? And why in God's holy name had Light been holding his breath? By God, he'd half expected the darker haired male to kiss him or some such stupid thing!

He shook his head, resolutely continuing with his meal. Once he finished, he decided to be reckless and try some of the house ale. He'd never tried alcohol, and was curious to see why so many people appeared to enjoy it with such great gusto.

The drink arrived with a young barmaid, amber in the flickering light from the candles and lanterns set about the room. Light eyed it briefly before tipping half the stuff down his throat.

The innocent-seeming liquid burned as it went down and Light began to cough and splutter furiously.

"First time drinking?" came a voice behind Light, softly laced with amusement, accompanied by a swift clapping on the back.

Light nodded (once he'd recovered) and said, "Thank you, er…"

"Mika. I'm the Duke's advisor, just passing through." the handsome man with mid-shoulder length straight black hair said, sitting beside Light and gesturing for one of the barmaids to bring him a drink, paying the required amount when it arrived.

More cautiously this time, Light took a small sip, finding the passage of the ale down his throat much easier this time, and a warm glow beginning in his stomach.

"If you're the Duke's advisor, why are you travelling ahead without him? Oughtn't you be with him?" Light asked presently. There was… something about this man. Something in his manner that both put him at ease and at the same time set his hair standing on end.

"Ah, you've heard about the audience then? Rumors spread quickly around here. The Duke is very ill and cannot leave his manor. The King accepts this, and allowed the Duke to send his brother in his place." Mika explained, sipping at his own drink.

"Still if that is-" Light gave a hiccup as he noticed he appeared to have finished, gesturing for a refill. "-the case, wouldn't you stay _with _him?"

"His Grace had an errand he needed me to perform that he could trust to no other."

"Ah." Light said, nodding.

They sat drinking for several more hours, with Light becoming steadily drunk, Mika asking him several questions as they went.

"Are you travelling with someone?" Mika asked casually.

"Oh yes, of- hic! - course."

"That oddly pale man with black hair?"

"The one that looks like a racoon?"

Mika gave a chuckle. "Well, I suppose he _did _rather resemble a raccoon now that I think on it." he said, taking another drink from his tankard.

The young brunette went to mimic this action only to discover the contents of his tankard missing.

"Where'd it all go?! That's the third time it's disappeared!"

"Can we have another refill over here please?" called Mika to a barmaid, paying the coppers.

"You didn't – hic! - need to."

"Not a problem." Mika smiled genially.

"Thank you then Mika!" he exclaimed happily. "Oh, the raccoon man! That's right, he's-"

"I believe you've had _quite_ enough Light." came a sharp-toned male voice, as a pale hand shot out to stop said teen from taking another swig of ale.

"Aw, but-"

"No 'buts' Light. Come now, up to bed."

"Couldn't I at least finish this 'n?" pleaded the drunken Light in a slurred voice.

L released Light's hand, instead taking the tankard from Light and drinking it down in one gulp himself.  
"There. It's finished. Now Light, you are _completely_ drunk, so-"

"But _you_ drank it! And I'm _not_ drunk." Light protested indignantly. "Oh!" he exclaimed, thunking his fist awkwardly into his hand. "_That's_ where it was all going! _You_ were drinking it while I wasn't looking weren't you!" he announced triumphantly, narrowing his eyes in a cunning smile. "You thought I wouldn't notice! Well y'didn't get away wi' it! I-"

Light had stood to poke L in the chest, only, before he could accomplish that action, the room spun and he collapsed.

Despite his slender stature, the accused L caught him easily, rolling his eyes somewhat as he slid Light's arm across his neck, placing his own around Light's waist to support him.

"I _caught_ y'." mumbled Light, looking blearily up at L.

"I believe _I _did the catching in this case, Light. Now, _bed_ and I do not wish for you to argue."

Light pouted. "_Fi-ine_. G'night, Mika!" he said mournfully, waving to the three spinning men with black hair still sitting at the bar. _Why_ were they doing that? Didn't they know they were making him dizzy?

"Goodnight, Light." one of them replied, and they nodded cordially at L with a smirk, tipping the last of their drinks down as though in a toast before sliding from the stool and leaving with a whispered word in L's direction.

L shot him a hard look before being pulled back to the rather more immediate problem of a thoroughly drunk Light.

"Come on." he grunted, hauling the near deadweight across his shoulders up the stairs, ignoring the tentative offers of assistance from several other patrons of the taproom, shoving the door to their room with his elbow on the off chance Light had perhaps left it unlocked.

Predictably…

"Light, you really ought to have locked this before you went off drinking." L chastised him, dragging the younger teen bodily over to the bed, unceremoniously lifting him and dropping him onto the bed.

"M'sorry."

L looked at Light in surprise. An apology? This was new. Though they'd only been companions of a sort for perhaps two days (or three by this hour, he rather suspected) he knew Light well enough to know that this was not a common occurrence from Light.

"When you are drunk you are much more amiable." he noted aloud. "And polite." he added with wry amusement, pulling the patchwork blanket up and tucking it around the other male's shoulders, kneeling beside the bed.

"Am I really that –hic! - bad? M'sorry."

"You do not need to apologise Light." he assured said teen.

Light's eyes suddenly focused and his eyes narrowed as he leaned up slightly to stare at L's face.

"You're really pretty y'know." he announced, clumsily leaning to press a kiss to L. The inhibiting effects of alcohol caused him to miss the older male's lips, instead gently touching his cheek, much to L's surprise, before slumping back down and closing his eyes.

L's eyes widened considerably, either in horror or just plain wonder as he put a hand to the place he'd just been kissed. _'Light is an affectionate drunk.'_ he thought in a somewhat stunned fashion, staring at the unconscious teen on the bed. _'One would never have guessed.'_ he thought, an odd feeling of fondness welling up in him.

His face changed abruptly, morphing from the habitual blank mask into a frown. _'What on earth is…? Why did I-'_ he wondered, before cutting off that train of thought ruthlessly. _'No matter, he ought to be quite safe now.'_ he thought, firmly guiding himself down a more practical avenue so as not to dwell on thoughts best ignored. _'If I lock the window and the door when I leave he __**ought**__ to be fine.'_ he thought, eyeing the room, looking for something particular.

His dark eyes found what they were searching for, lighting upon the thin strips of silver, almost imperceptible unless one was looking for it as he was, lining the frames of the window and the door. _'Perfect. As I would have expected.'_ he thought. It would be enough. He would only be gone an hour or two more, he'd only returned to check on Light- a good idea if the parting comment he'd received from this 'Mika' was any indicator.

"Mika indeed." he scoffed quietly as he locked the window and slipped out the door, locking it behind him.

**--**

Light woke up with his head aching as though fit to burst, the pale moonlight spilling into the room barely enough to see by.

He sat up, groaning softly as the movement jarred his head. "L?" he called softly.

He vaguely remembered being taken back upstairs to the room, L supporting him, but L appeared to have disappeared yet again.

"Damn he's good at that." Light cursed quietly, slumping back onto the pillow.

Judging from the amount of darkness still about it would still be several hours 'till morning. Light sighed, about to try and fall back asleep when he noticed a silhouette move.

"Who's there?" he asked with some trepidation.

There was no audible reply, but whatever it was it moved again- towards the bed this time.

"Show yourself!"

The shadowy creature paused beside the bed, before Light got the shock of his life when a cat leapt up onto the bed, mewing softly. Not just any cat either, but one with familiar black-marked white fur.

Light breathed a sigh of relief.

"How did you get in here, hm?" Light asked it softly, stretching out a hand to the animal. It stared at him before slinking up to sniff at his hand, nose cold as its whiskers tickled his hand. Light gave a small smile. "I haven't any food at present." he informed it.

The cat paused, looking up at him with a somewhat reproachful-seeming look, before it walked up to Light, padding around in a circle briefly before kneading the blanket beside him for a short time, curling into a ball against him.

"Well I'm glad _one_ of us seems to be able to sleep." Light groused good-naturedly, smiling as he softly stroked its fur. As before, the only response from it was to fluff its fur up somewhat, tail somewhat resembling a bottlebrush in shock, though it did not move.

With the reassuring warmth beside him, and the sensation of the soft fur beneath his fingers, Light soon slipped back into slumber.

**--**

The cat mewed softly once Light was breathing deeply in the even rhythms of slumber before it marked the human gently, rubbing its head against his shoulder, as though to show that the human was under the protection of the animal before it uncurled, sure now that the young man slept.

It padded quickly over to the shadows by the door, pawing the brass key that had been hidden there out from the hiding place in a mouse-hole that only a cat or something similar in size could reach almost as though to make sure a larger human hand wouldn't be able to pick it up from inside the room.

Nodding once in an oddly humanlike gesture of seeming satisfaction it returned to its position against the warmth of Light's body, eyes bright as they scanned the darkness, tail swishing.

**--**

Light's eyes stung him awake, registering the agonising brightness of early sunlight pouring through the curtain-less window.

He growled, though even that noise hurt, rolling over and pressing his face into the pillow.

"Good morning Light." greeted L's voice.

"Go 'way." said teen mumbled.

"So _eloquent_ this morning. Need I remind you that the headache I imagine you're currently experiencing is entirely your own fault?" L inquired with sincere seeming curiosity.

Light groaned. "Leave me _alone_ L."

The pillow was tugged from Light's grasp, and the teen turned his aching head towards L, eyes bleary and tired.

L stared at Light, thumbnail of one hand between his lips, pillow in the other hand. "You don't look good." he said bluntly, eyes taking in the evidence of the younger male's experiment with drinking.

"You're not the picture of health either, _L_. Though, you _do_ look as though you're better rested. Did you actually _sleep_ I wonder?"

L froze as he seemed to think back before he answered stiffly, in a voice that implied he was shocked. "I _did_ get an hour's nap!"

"An hour? And you're not tired?"

L, however, ignored Light, frowning worriedly, not seeming to care that he had lost the calm atmosphere he normally exuded.

"I wasn't supposed to sleep, let alone _that_ long, what with all those things surrounding us; that was an utterly foolish mistake, an accident that must _never_ occur again…"

"_What_ things surrounding us? What do you mean?" Light asked sharply, ignoring the stabbing in his head.

"It is not a matter for you to be concerned about at present."

"As stupid and naïve as you appear to think I am, L…" Light started hotly, fully prepared for an argument, before his head saw fit to remind him of the reason that this was _not _a good idea, the stabbing at his brain suddenly increasing almost unbearably. "Oh _**God**_ this hurts!" he exclaimed, clutching at his head, pulling the blankets back over his head.

L moved forward, faint concern on his catlike features. "That shouldn't be so painful…" he muttered. "No other I've seen has experienced such pain from their first time drinking, even if they got as drunk as you did…" He sat on the bed just in front of where Light was balled up.

Gently he pulled the blanket from Light's head, tugging his hands from his face and tilting it up towards him.

He tilted Light's face this way, then that, careful not to jar the poor boy's head too much, studying Light's pain filled eyes with his own sleep-deprived ones.

All of a sudden he took Light's face between his palms and moved his face closer.

"L?" Light asked somewhat fearfully. "What are you doing?"

The dark-haired man ignored him, moving closer and closer still. Light slammed his eyes shut, waiting for something…

He felt L's cool skin against his forehead, and he opened his eyes tentatively, staring into the dark-rimmed eyes so close to his own.

"Your eyes! There's- there's a rim of some colour there now." Light said in surprise, not moving away as he'd originally intended.

"Hm. I'm no expert, but I believe you _do_ seem to be rather warm." L remarked critically, pulling back, ignoring Light's discovery. "Perhaps you're sickening for something." he mused, frowning.

"I feel fine- except for the headache." protested Light.

"I do not think it wise to tempt fate. You are going to stay in bed, and we will travel on in several days hence."

L moved away finally, and was standing and moving toward the door when Light decided to ask him something that was niggling at him.

"By the way, L…"

"What is it, Light?"

"Had you noticed that we appear to have a cat following us?"

"A cat? You don't say." L said in a disinterested tone, pausing with his back to Light.

Light nodded, and then winced at the searing pain that stabbed into his head at that simplest of movements. "I thought it was the farmers', you know, from the barn we slept at, because that was where I first saw it, but then it showed up _here_, and I was certain you'd locked the door you see, so I thought that you might have let it in…"

"So- your point?" L cut him off abruptly, doing something that Light couldn't quite see from his vantage point on the bed.

Light narrowed his eyes, suspicion beginning to creep into his head.

'_For the crime of being a shape shifting demon, by the name of 'matagot' you are to be burned at the stake 'till dead.'_

"L…"

"What?"

"Why are you acting so strange toward me? Did I do something last night? I was only asking a simple question, and you seem suddenly very reluctant to stay near me."

"I am _not_ acting strange Light. And if you _must _know, you _did_ do something last night."

Light was shocked, distracted from his original question by this revelation. He hadn't expected L to actually say he'd done something, for, although his memory of the night before was hazy, he didn't really remember doing anything that would cause…

He closed his eyes, both in dread and against the light (the built-up intensity seemed to be making the ache worse).

"What did… I do?" he asked stiffly.

L turned back to him, face as impassive as ever, though if Light had looked, he would have seen the glint of mischief in their dark depths.

"I believe you said I was… what was it now…?" he said, tapping his finger against his lower lip in mock thoughtfulness.

"Annoying?" Light said hopefully.

"Pretty. And _then_ you-"

'_As if that wasn't bad __**enough**__.' _Light thought, wincing inwardly.

L looked at him sidelong, a small but definite smile playing at the corners of his mouth. "Oh you were _thoroughly _drunk Light. But-" he said almost thoughtfully. "I was quite flattered, I'll admit, when you kissed me."

Light's jaw dropped. "I did _what_?!"

L gave a polite smile.

"I didn't…"

"You did."

"Oh my God, L- I didn't _mean-_"

L held up a hand, gentle smile on his face at the guilt laced in the younger male's voice. "I know Light." he said simply. "I am not kidding myself thinking that you would have done that were you sober, and, after all…"

Light narrowed his eyes. "L…?"

The gentle smile turned to a wickedly mischievous grin. "You missed- you only kissed my cheek."

"L…" Light said in a shaking voice, fist clenched under the cover.

"What?" said male asked innocently.

"If I wasn't quite sure that my head were to explode if I moved, I would kill you." he said in a calmly murderous tone that L had not suspected the young village boy could produce.

"Why?" came the answer, honest puzzlement on L's face, as though he didn't understand why Light didn't get the joke.

Light gave him a look. "You really _are_ socially inept aren't you?"

L tilted his head to the side. "I'm afraid I fail to grasp your meaning Light. I did have a lack of interaction with other children my age, but I do not see-"

Light scowled, throwing his hands in the air. "I'm going to quit while I'm behind." he said, lying back down carefully.

L shrugged. "As you wish." he said placidly, picking up Light's pillow and tucking it under his head with surprising gentleness. "I will be going out for a while. It would be advisable that you do not move.

With that he locked the window and pulled the door shut behind him, effectively locking Light in.

Light sent a glare at the door, before retreating back under his blankets.

**--**

When L returned, it was to find Light had taken a turn for the worse. He was shaking as though cold, even though he was nested among what seemed to be all the blankets in the room. He wrinkled his nose at the odd change in Light's scent.

"Light?" L asked, inwardly surprised at the genuine worry welling up inside him at the glazed dullness of Light's topaz eyes as he laid his wrist against the younger's forehead.

His temperature appeared to have soared in the brief time L had been gone, and the odd feeling of worry intensified. _No one_ should be that hot. It simply wasn't healthy, no matter what you were.

"L…?" came the hoarse reply. "I think… I might be sick."

"A highly intelligent observation Light." L replied brusquely.

Swiftly he hurried over to the packages he'd bought, rummaging through one of the paper-bound packages, pulling out a bound weight of willow bark.

"I will be back momentarily." he told the younger male, making his way to the kitchens.

**--**

Once he arrived there, he asked the woman he took to be the head cook, (a brown-haired matronly-appearing woman) to make a strong brew of tea using the willow bark, owing to the fact that he was completely clueless when it came to most cooking.

"Is someone unwell?" she asked, without apparent concern as she set the kettle on the fire to boil.

"Yes." L said abruptly.

"Your master?" she asked nonchalantly.

Coming from most people, this statement could merely have referred to the lie he'd allowed the inhabitants to assume upon entering the inn that Light was some form of noble, and L his servant, however there was something in her tone that implied to him that that was not what she meant.

He raised suddenly sharp eyes to the woman. "…Perhaps."

She stared him in the eyes as she smiled. "No matter how fine your clothes and boots, you cannot hide what you are." she said softly.

"Madam?" he asked cautiously.

The water suddenly started to bubble, spilling over onto the hot coals. She hooked it down, putting the bark into the kettle, putting the lid on tightly.

"You can take it up to your room. Steep it for five minutes and keep a cold compress on his head. Your master's not sick- he's been poisoned." she said. "But then- you knew that didn't you."

L picked up the kettle, turning his back out of necessity for a brief moment. When he turned back to ask her _exactly_ what she meant, and how she knew that he knew Light was not the victim of sickness, but that woman with the brown hair had disappeared and he just caught sight of a brown tail disappearing around the corner.

**--**

Light had not improved. It was well into the evening and any food L had managed to coax into him had merely come back up.

L had completely given up on that venture, just making the younger male drink water, and copious amounts of the willow bark tea.

"Am I dying?" Light croaked, eyes no longer dull, but abnormally bright with fever.

"No." L said curtly, holding the cool cloth he had just wrung out onto Light's forehead with some distaste at the heat still emanating from his forehead. "You're just very sick." he told Light.

"But people in the village- when they got sick _they_ died." fretted Light.

"They were too afraid of me to ask for assistance." snapped L.

"But…"

"Trust me. I will not allow you to die. That would be a poor repayment, no? Now, it is time for your tea again Light. Can you hold this here yourself for a minute please?"

Light reached a sweaty, still shaking hand to hold the cloth in place as L poured a cup of the willow bark tea.

"Can I have honey in it? That stuff tastes _horrible_." complained the sick teen.

"It would be better you didn't." L said reluctantly. He knew just how horrible tea of any sort tasted without the sweetness of honey, and indeed had one hell of a sweet tooth. "It could be too much on your stomach, given plain bread couldn't seem to stay down."

"I suppose." groused Light, allowing L to help him sit up enough to drink as L took away the cloth. "You're going to get sick now too. I'm sorry." Light said in a surprisingly lucid voice, sipping more tea.

"I won't Light. I do not get sick easily."

"Can you find the cat?" Light asked suddenly, lucidity gone.

"What?"

"That black and white cat I told you about before. Can you find him for me?"

L sighed, standing and taking the empty teacup with him. "Why?"

"Because it's soft and warm and cuddly. It even helped me to sleep once." Light informed him, sounding especially childish.

A faint smile curved L's lips as he stared intently at Light. "Cuddly, hm?"

Light nodded hopefully.

"If you hold that cold compress to your head and promise not to move, I'll do my best."

"Oh thank you, L!" Light exclaimed happily, smiling radiantly at L.

L shook his head, still faintly smiling. _'He is far gone in the fever for him to be acting in such a childish manner. Soon, I do not think he will be lucid enough to notice what's going on around him.'_ he thought deeply. _'And it will be dark soon. Perhaps, with the shadows…'_

**--**

Light was certain it was just a product of his fevered brain. What else could explain what he appeared to be witnessing?

As he looked at the shadows, incomprehensibly, he saw a humanoid shape which, initially, he thought must be L, but then that shape twisted and changed and, all of a sudden, it wasn't- it _couldn't_ be, it had too much hair-fur? , and its ears were pointed and on _top_ of its head, and then it was a cat, only it _wasn't_, it was far too big, but then it shrank and it _was_.

His head swam and the room spun.

The last thing he remembered was a tiny weight on his chest and a cold nose on his forehead before he sank into unconsciousness.

* * *

Chapter two: Done!

Chapter three: Still being typed.

Incidentally, I'm also going to be working on a Yu-Gi-Oh/Death Note crossover, it's something I don't think anyone's done before, so yeah. Interesting? Check my polls to tell me which stories you want to see added first.

Smile! :D

Ireina


	3. The Swimming Incident

**Matagot 3- The Swimming Incident: A Distinct Lack of Clothing.**

* * *

Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note. If I did, everything after the Yotsuba arc would not have occured, L and Light would've hooked up two eps after the chain went on and Near, Mello and Matt would've come in in some other fashion (Just because they rock). I do, however own some of the legends attributed with the 'Matagot', (which is a real French myth, who'da thunk it?) and the general AU.

**Warning: AU, Yaoi/Shonen-Ai. If you don't like, please don't read! Rated for later content, possible swearing, definite limes and possible violence. LightxL, possible side pairings to be decided.  
**

**Flames shall be extinguished with great force because it is bush-fire season and I hate bush-fires. Many Australians do.**

Credit goes to my beta, **TsumeLover666** for an excellent job, and a swift return!

**Dedicated to the following lovely Reviewers!! (Italics anonymous)**

chibi-eru

Violet Velvetine

Vampyra142001

Shadow-L-Chan

Great Aunt Florence

Amorpheous

PirateCaptainBo

thitewiger

moonlit dew

loneliness is killing me

FacelessIdol

_Hi!_

Kirin-Kun

Straddle

_anabel sinclair_

Neikrider

Amaya

Yin-san

Aluminum Muse

Just a quick note before y'all start reading: I've had someone tell me that the last chapter wasn't very emotional, and I'd like to say that I agree totally. As for the poison... Well I've plans to reveal exactly what it is later on in the story. Just letting everyone know, in case it was bothering you.

* * *

Light awoke several hours later as the pale morning light created stripes on the wooden floor with his fever broken, (although his body was still weak from the fight to keep itself from burning from the inside out) to see a white cat with very memorable and distinctive black markings sleeping peacefully beside him. He raised an eyebrow with a slightly amused smile. _'I haven't seen it in the daylight before.'_ he thought as he stroked its fur gently. The animal cracked an eye open in response to the touch, observing him warily for a small period of time.

"Good morning." he greeted the cat, which stood, arching its back as it stretched, awakening fully.

It sat, curling its tail around its body as it stared primly at him for perhaps four or five seconds. Light reached out and caressed its head, scratching behind a dark ear with a surprisingly affectionate smile at the familiar loud, yet reluctant, purring. His smile widened.

"You seem to like me." he said aloud. "Given that you followed me and L from the barn."

Light forced his brain into gear, taking stock of his physical state. He felt incredibly better than he had earlier, but he could tell from his weak-seeming body and his still half-asleep mind that it would be another day, perhaps two, before he was fully recovered. He tilted his head to the side as he continued his rhythmic stroking of the soft fur under his fingers as a thought came to him out of the blue. What manner of disease would cause such debilitating symptoms, yet disappear overnight leaving him not only alive, but almost completely unharmed, save from a weary and weak body? And what could possibly assist him with lowering such a high fever?

"What on Earth did L dose me with I wonder?" he asked the cat jokingly, not expecting an answer.

The cat mewed loudly, pulling away and leaping onto the table, batting its paw at a package on the table. Its contents were heavily depleted, and it was filled with a pale, almost wooden substance.

Light raised an eyebrow. "Did you just answer me, hm?" he asked it, feeling slightly foolish to be talking to a cat.

The animal in question froze, staring at him with its fur puffing out in the natural defensive mechanism that signified fear (or anger, though he thought it likely to be the former) in cats, as though it was expecting him to suddenly attack it.

"I'll take that as a 'yes' then. Your previous master must have trained you very well." Light smiled, holding out a hand in an attempt to coax it back. Its fur settled and leapt back onto the bed, padding up and sitting by his leg with its tail swishing in probable agitation, just out of reach. "You don't need to be afraid." Light informed it. "I was sure I'd been over this cat, I'm not going to hurt you." he continued with an exasperated sigh.

The cat stood with an angry sounding noise caught somewhere between a yowl and a hiss as though protesting Light thinking it was _afraid_ of a mere human, before it stalked up to him, leaned its smallish paws on his chest and licked his cheek with its rough tongue.

Light stared at the cat, a slightly amused look on his face. "Perhaps you don't fear me then." he remarked with an amused expression.

The cat moved back away from him before it suddenly turned tail and ran for the door, which it batted open, bolting.

Light frowned. _'Surely L would have locked that, wouldn't he? I do not remember much from earlier, but I distinctly remember him telling me to make sure I locked the doors if I was to leave…And __**what**__ on Earth spooked the cat so badly that it ran in the first place?'_ he wondered, getting out of bed, almost falling back into it in the attempt, but valiantly (and shakily) he managed to walk over to the door to shut it. He had no wish for perfect strangers to see him in his still weak and perhaps even still partially ill state, though perhaps he would have been better to merely stay in bed and cover his head, for whoever happened to be in the hall would notice him…

Alas for Light, he only realised this upon reaching the door. Cursing, he was about to shut the door when he caught a glimpse of what looked like L. Craning his neck for a better look, he saw that it was indeed the raven-haired individual, leaning his head against the hallway wall.

"L?" he asked incredulously, opening the door completely once he saw this. "Are you… all right?"

L turned and his eyes were strange- _different_ somehow, though he was hard-pressed to see it.

"I am quite well, Light." L said in his usual toneless voice, face blank as ever. "But you shouldn't be out of bed. Back into bed, _now_."

Bristling at being ordered to bed like a recalcitrant child, Light snapped, "I feel _fine._"

"A fact made evident by your talkativeness!" L snapped back.

Taken aback that L had actually retaliated at him, Light's knees buckled as the phenomenal force of will that had been keeping them straight was temporarily shocked into distraction.

L moved forward, and as Light's eyes registered the movement, he felt the slender-framed male's arms around him, supporting him and keeping him upright.

"Thanks." Light bit out with some reluctance, forced to look into the sleep-deprived eyes of the darker young man. Light frowned, eyes narrowing. "Hold still please." he said, leaning closer. "I thought it was my imagination, but something really _is _different about your eyes today…"

"What of them?" asked L, somehow managing to shuffle on the spot.

"Have you been sleeping more or something? Taking catnaps?" Light moved closer absently, not appearing to notice L's apparent discomfort.

"Perhaps inadvertently. Light you're _very_ close-"

Light cut L off mid-sentence. "It's just that your eyes aren't…"  
"Aren't _what_? Light, really you are-"

Again Light cut him off. "They aren't _black _anymore."

"-far too- _what_?" L's eyes widened.

"Well, they're not _completely_ black." Light corrected himself. He tilted his head slightly to the side, still staring at L's odd eyes. "They're some sort of grey. Though I can't quite see what shade, they keep shifting- hold _still_ would you?" Light asked irritably, making the effort to pull his hands up, placing them on either of L's cheeks and holding the other male's face still.

L stiffened up immediately at the contact. "Light really, I _**must**_ ask you-"

"Hm, I wish they'd pick a colour and stick to it…" Light muttered absently, ignoring L as he moved even closer, their noses not more than centimetres apart (though the distracted young man seemed not to notice how close they really were.) He let out a cry of triumph. "Ah! - they seem to be a-"

Both their eyes shot as wide as they could as a sudden bump from behind Light sent the brunette's mouth crashing into L's.

"Oh I am _so_ sorry my lords, oh _please_ do forgive me…" babbled a young maid, the poor girl wringing her hands in her apron anxiously. "I swear I didn't mean to bump into you, I wasn't watching where I was going and…"

Ignoring the girl's apologies as though she wasn't there Light moved back enough to allow lip movement and continued his sentence. "-A silvery colour." he finished, pulling his head further back and wiping his mouth with his hand, a pinkish tint rising in his cheeks despite the matter-of-fact tone apparent in his voice.

L cleared his throat awkwardly, taking pity on the young maid. "Y- Yes miss. I'm sure you didn't. It's quite alright." he said. "Really." Color of a pinkish hue similar to that adorning Light's cheeks became apparent on L's pale skin.

"Oh _thank_ you milord, I really _am_ most sorry." She bobbed a quick curtsey before scurrying off, presumably to finish whatever task she'd been about before accidentally bumping Light into L, brown plait swinging behind her like a tail.

Once the hallway was clear again, Light spoke. "I hope I didn't just… give you whatever it is I've had…" he mumbled, not meeting L's eyes, the pink shooting up the color scale, bypassing coral on its way to becoming full on bright red. "Because I still feel like I was run over by the Larangers' herd of cattle, and it would… well, it would be… terrible if _both_ of us were to become ill…"

"I do not think that likely." L said wryly, staring at a point on the blank beige wall somewhere to the left of Light's head as the color of his own cheeks followed Light's.

"If… if you're sure then, I think… I think I'll just go. To bed. Yes. Bed."

"Yes, that is perhaps a wise idea. After all, the sooner you recover, the sooner we can move along. We do, after all, have places to go and things to do. I believe three days ought to be sufficient; we do want to be sure you are completely recovered at any rate."

Too embarrassed by the accidental 'touching of lips' (Because Light flat-out _refused_ to call that a 'kiss'.) to wonder exactly what L meant, because after all, they _had _reached the city, and hadn't that been their goal when they set out?

So it was that Light made his way back to the bed which would become his new residence for the next three days, with L's slender frame supporting Light's much larger one with apparent ease.

**--**

After the three days L had suggested passed, L deemed Light fully recovered and ready to travel and wearing the clothes that were cut in the latest fashions that L had somehow managed to obtain (Light was _not_ going to question where he'd gotten the money- these were _silk_!)

A thought occurred to Light as he sat astride the old horse (dubbed Reaine due to an odd-seeming desire to return to the forest of the same name which L had found her in) at a crossroads leading from the town they had just left, L deciding which way they ought to go.

Plucking at the hem of his sleeve, he remarked, "If we were riding in a carriage you'd never know we weren't noble. The quality of these is amazing, the stitches are so tiny! How could anyone sew so _small_? But they must've been expensive. However did we afford them?" he asked casually.

L looked up at Light thoughtfully. "That is correct… especially _you_, Light. You would easily be mistaken for…" He gave a triumphant smile, neatly sidestepping Light's question about the expense. "This way, we need to head this way." he ordered, tugging the horse's bridle in the indicated direction.

"Why'd you change your mind?" Light asked curiously. "And you didn't answer my previous question either." he pointed out, frowning slightly, though not fighting L, trusting to the other's apparently extensive knowledge of the outside world.

"It is irrelevant." L said dismissively.

Light raised an eyebrow. "I'd say it's relevant."

"At this point, you do not need to be informed. Therefore, it is best if I do not inform you."

Light rolled his eyes, frustrated. "One of these days, someone's going to knock you off your high-horse L. And by _God_ I hope I'm there to see it." he said with quiet vehemence.

L looked up at him, a look of polite puzzlement on his face. "But Light- _you're_ the one riding."

"You know precisely what I mean L."

**--**

There was silence until the sun reached its apex in the sky, beating down upon the two harshly, and the layered fashions of court only increasing their discomfort.

"We need to stop and rest for a few minutes, perhaps even have something to eat." Light said, voice only showing the tiniest bit of the fatigue that was plaguing him.

"Just around this corner." L wheedled, seeming to be completely unaffected by the heat. "Then we can stop." he promised.

They continued the short distance, and around said bend lay a lake, twinkling invitingly in the sunlight, several trees offering shade around the banks, one of which was a weeping willow, long tendrils of leaves caressing the water's surface as a breeze curled through them.

After Light had dismounted, they sat under the willow leaving Reaine to graze happily on the nearby waving green grass as Light ate some of the bread and salted meat from their pack of provisions, though L had passed, apparently not hungry (as usual).

"L-" Light said suddenly, staring at said male.

"Yes Light?"

"Why do you sit in such an odd way? With your knees up and your feet so close to you, you sit almost as though you're a cat. Honestly, I keep half-expecting to see a tail swish!"

L's eyes widened almost imperceptibly. "I have not been likened to a _cat_ before…" he murmured.

"Really? How terribly strange. It was the first thing that came to mind when I saw you sit like that."

"Truly?" L questioned, unnerving gaze staring into Light's eyes.

Light nodded, brushing crumbs from his silken tunic as he tried to ignore that dark gaze. "No one _really_ ever said that?"

"Oh no, I've always been called a demon." L said placidly, staring at Light's highly expressionate face.

"When did all that start?" Light asked with a frown.

"With my mother. She looked similar to me, or so I'm told. I only remember her eyes were blue." _'And her scent- she smelt of strawberries and musk.'_ he added silently.

"Of course, I'm also told that _she_ was attractive, which was what made her stand out from the other villagers. I do remember that she had a sharp tongue. She gave as good as she got from those fishwives."

"Fishwives, hm? You do realise you include my mother among those 'fishwives'?" Light asked half-jokingly.

L stared at him, head tilted to the side. "I do not remember your mother as having been aggressive towards me or my mother, hence she is not included in that term." he said quite seriously.

"It was a joke, L. Don't take it so seriously. Honestly, your sense of humor is twisted beyond imagining." Light replied, rolling his eyes.

There was silence for a brief amount of time, a comfortable thing that did not need to be filled with unnecessary words. Light broke it, a thoughtful expression on his features.

"L,"

"Yes?"

"Why… why didn't you fight back? When they accused you, and-" Light trailed off, wincing at the still-fresh memory of his exile, temporarily brought back from the deep recesses of his mind where he'd shoved it by the question.

"What would that have achieved? I am only one man Light, and they were _quite_ determined I burn."

"Did they never stop to think that even if you had _really_ been a demon, they never would have been able to burn you? Aren't demons supposed to have abnormal strength in addition to their magic if you go by the legends?"

L gave a bitter smile. "Not the 'matagot'." he answered. "The matagot is a mage- a creature that can shift its shape at will, although it's supposed to be generally confined to only two forms. Apparently they're also supposed to bring misfortune, though I'd not heard that they brought luck." he said, tone ironic, though from the look on Light's face, he didn't understand the irony. "And if the villagers are to be believed, they're quite mischievous, almost to the point of destruction. Fancy that."

Light tilted his head to the side. "And when they started to get all that bad luck, they chose the most convenient scapegoat." he said softly.

"Yes." L replied, voice completely lacking self-pity, as dispassionate as ever.

Another comfortable silence of the same breed as the earlier one filled the lull in the conversation. Light leaned back against the tree, his eyelids adorned with those strangely doe-like long lashes lowering in the noon heat, apparently enjoying the warmth of his namesake.

L looked solemnly at Light. The teen was far more intelligent than he'd first suspected. Given the circumstances of their first meeting, L had initially thought him to be not a terribly bright boy, given his reckless challenging of the burning. Idealistic, innocent, and kind-hearted, yes, perhaps. Intelligent? Decidedly not. Who, after all got in between a mob and their victim?

But over the past several days, the boy had already begun to put the pieces together and perhaps already had some idea forming as to the truth. But L rather thought that he didn't quite comprehend all of it yet. _'Why is it I do not worry about him uncovering it? Would it not be possible for him to turn on me if he discovers?'_ he wondered idly, before discarding the option. Light, he did not think was that sort of person. At the very least, he wasn't the sort to let hard work or suffering go to waste, and what did you call stopping L's burning?

And then there was Light's uncanny knack for predicting several of L's more obvious habits. They had never interacted before the disastrous chain of events leading to their joint exile, but the boy had already come to learn his ways. Enough to be comfortable attempting to manipulate a conversation to his own information-gathering ends, even to the point of seeming to accurately have predicted how L would respond to certain cues.

Innocent and essentially kind-hearted Light may have been. Stupid, L now knew he definitely was _not_. L was not used to having someone who could, and would, play word-games at his level. He was not used to having an equal, and he was beginning to think that perhaps, just _perhaps_ Light, the statuesque farmer's son, might just be his.

Then there was the matter of the kiss to wonder about. What exactly had prompted that? Alcohol _did_ cause people to act sometimes in complete contradictions of their normal selves, but it did not change their nature, merely removed many, if not all their inhibitions.

And, then there was L's response. What on _Earth_ had prompted him to do that? While it did have a kind of irony, given the circumstances, but… it was horribly, horribly reckless, and completely unlike L. Reckless because, if Light was half as intelligent as L thought he might be, then he might connect the seemingly unrelated incidents. As it was, L wasn't sure how much Light had seen in the shadows, and how much he'd dismissed as feverish delusions. Another reckless decision, he should have left the room before effecting such a thing…

Light shifted in his sleep, and a single lock of his honey-brown hair fell across his face, distracting L for some odd reason.

L frowned, his dark eyes somewhat troubled. He lifted a spidery white hand, (the long fingers surprisingly dainty for a male) as he reached out and, pausing for a brief second, he tentatively stroked the hair back, tucking the errant golden-brown hair behind the younger teen's ear.

The frown deepened. He did _not_ like the tenderness he'd shown in that gesture. He looked up suddenly. He stood, not bothering to brush the dirt and grass from his clothing before he strode off into the copse of trees and several minutes later, a cat came running out as though hounds were chasing it.

The animal darted back around the bend in the direction of the small town that Light and L had just left, leaping up onto the wall bordering the crossroads where L had changed direction, its ears pricked and quivering.

It was faint, but the almost preternatural hearing of the cat picked up the familiar clip-clop of hooves and the rattling of metal singular to a carriage coming along the road. In a blur it near _flew_ back towards where Light lay, dust flying under its black paws, coating the white fur on its legs.

**--**

Light was thinking ferociously, the gears of his mind turning, multiple bits and pieces of stored information flying around, some of it fitting together like a puzzle. Shape-shifting demon, people strange enough to be accused of demonic heritage, cats that followed him, the strange comprehension the cat had shown of human speech…

The gears ground to a sudden and startling halt when he felt a gentle brush across his face. It tickled, but not in the conventional 'tickling' sense. He cracked his eyes open, looking up through his lashes at whatever had brushed his face.

Leaning over him was the angular, delicate featured face belonging to L, complete with dark-ringed eyes that were no longer so black and raven-dark disarrayed hair.

'_Oh my…'_ he thought. _'That was __**completely**__ unexpected…'_ What he had expected was that perhaps L had left to go somewhere as he was so given to do, and perhaps some beautiful young maiden had come across him and been overcome with curiosity. He had _definitely_ not expected that the cause for the oddly pleasant tickling sensation was L.

He saw hazily through his lashes as L looked up all-a-sudden and near-_ran_ back to the forest-type cluster of trees, loping easily across the ground. Light gave an infinitesimal frown, but did not move as he closed his eyes. The other male would return. He always did.

Sure enough-

"Light." came a soft voice.

Said male pretended to stir, asking sleepily; "Wha-at?"

"It is so very hot today. Summer must have come early. Perhaps you would care to swim?" the other asked nonchalantly. "The lake looks quite cold." he added, giving a look of mild distaste to the water in question.

Light's eyes flew completely open at that as the façade of sleep fell away at that statement. "What? But then my clothes would become wet." he stammered.

L's only reply was to raise an eyebrow.

"What?!" Light repeated, voice rising. "You can't be suggesting…"

"Really, you needn't fuss. I will not be joining you. I do not much like water." He shot a sidelong look Light's way. "And you do not have to worry about me watching you; I have no desire to…_observe_ you." L added cannily, as though realising what Light was getting at.

Light raised a brow, slightly offended for some odd reason, although he would rather be hauled over hot coals than admit to it. He gazed at the water longingly. It _did _look cold, and it was lovely and clear…

He turned his gaze back to L. But then, there was _L_…

"You can leave your clothes near the bank if you're worried." L offered.

Light nodded. "It _is_ rather unusually hot." he said reluctantly.

"I'll be right back. I wish to find some blueberries. I'm sure there was a bush _somewhere _back there." L informed him, ambling off into the thicket of trees.

Once he was absolutely _certain_ that L was out of line of sight, Light hurriedly threw off his clothes and slid into the water.

The stream that had run south-west of their village had been a source of fear for many of the village children. Because of this, the banks of the stream were quite secluded- no-one went down there. This had meant that Light had the place to himself. He had fallen in completely by accident at one point and had since discovered that the water felt quite nice to swim in and float on. Since then he'd taught himself to swim, and had become quite competent.

This water didn't flow around him as the stream had, but it was cool and deeper than the stream had been. It was different, but not bad. He dived down deep, enjoying the gentle caress of the silky water around him.

**--**

L sat in the middle of the trees, on one of the sturdier branches of an oak tree, balancing in his usual position with ease, absently nibbling at the blueberries he'd wrapped in a square of cloth he'd obtained for just this purpose (Berries were the next best thing to cake and L… Let's just say that he enjoyed cake. All sweet things in fact. Let us leave it at that, shall we?)

Discretely he closed his eyes as the younger male stripped and entered the water, oddly… _reluctant?_ to do so, but only opening them once he'd heard the signal splash as Light immersed himself, watching as the other male enjoyed the water.

"I certainly do not see the enjoyment in getting wet myself-" L muttered. "But he seems to be enjoying himself."

Carefully he wrapped his berries back up into the square, stowing the resultant package somewhere amongst his clothing, careful to put them in such a position as to prevent staining.

He looked down at his clothes as though to check them before he mussed them up a tad more, adding a rip with a tiny smile of satisfaction.

"It will do."

Quicker than might have been expected of him, he jumped down, landing on his feet before he darted out, snatched the pile of clothing up and returned to the trees, Light's angered voice ringing behind him.

**--**

"L! Bring those back!" roared Light. "Damn it! Now's not the time to suddenly indulge your twisted sense of humor in mischief! Come on L, I _need_ my clothes!"

He treaded water for a little while as it became rather apparent that L was not going to be returning with his clothes anytime soon, trying to decide what he ought to do. He never really got to the decision though, for soon he heard the clip-clopping and rattling of some contraption with people riding in it. Yet another thing his village had been too small to possess, or even need. His jaw dropped in disbelief. "Oh come _on_!"

To his horror and embarrassment the… whatever it was stopped and an older man, and… was that _L_? disembarked, and the driver hopped down and retrieved a horse-blanket from underneath his seat, holding it open for Light to wrap around himself.

"Oh my poor master. Do you see what they did to him?" L said sadly, shooting a look at Light that told him he'd do well to keep his mouth shut and play along.

"Yes, the Marquis is very lucky we happened along this road and saw you Ryuuzaki!" exclaimed the older man, bustling Light into the carriage as the driver re-took his position, picking up the reins and awaiting instruction.

Light shot L a look as he got into the thing (not without some trepidation), mouthing "Ryuuzaki?"

"I am the brother of the Duke hereabouts; this is the duchy of Felrawthy. This is my lovely daughter, Misa," continued the older man, gesturing to a beautiful blonde woman with crystalline blue eyes wearing a finely sewn silk gown sitting demurely in the corner. She smiled brightly at Light.

"It's nice to meet the Marquis at last! Ryuuzaki told us all about your wicked uncle taking over your estates and disinheriting you! Misa cannot believe someone could be so cruel!" she exclaimed.

"Yes, it was most upsetting for him, given he does not know much of this language. It is lucky I am a native, and can translate for him when necessary." L seemed to catch the sympathetic looks of pity on the face of the girl and continued. "Not to worry though my lady, he is a phenomenally swift learner." he told her seriously.

"_Phenomenally swift indeed…'_ Light thought to himself with a silent chuckle.

"You simply _must_ stay with us, Marquis! At least until you have gotten your affairs in order."

Light was silent as 'Ryuuzaki' performed his 'translation' with not the smallest of deviation from his blank face. Once the dark-haired male had finished speaking, Light nodded as though he understood. He didn't know what L was playing at, but not even the extraordinary beauty of that girl would distract him from finding out.

**--**

They arrived at the castle home of the Duke of Felrawthy, a mammoth structure of pale grey stone, architecture both ethereally beautiful, yet intimidatingly strong in structure. Well-tended gardens sprawled around the buildings, various servants scurrying about busily, the sound of the two or three visible fountains just barely audible in the background.

"It is beautiful." Light remarked without thinking.

"The Marquis's accent is so _quaint_!" squealed the girl with a smile. Light covered a wince, managing a faint smile. _'Accent?'_ he wondered.

"It _is_ endearing, isn't it dear." her father agreed, nodding benignly at the bemused teen.

**--**

"You owe me an explanation L. Or would you prefer Ryuuzaki? Is that your real name? Why on Earth couldn't you have told me?!"

"Light, calm down."

"If you'd had that scheme planned all along, why couldn't you have told me?!" Light demanded, ignoring L's high-handed order to calm himself.

"If I had you would not have been able to act convincingly confused, angry and distressed." reasoned L. "Besides which, you would not have understood why it was necessary. Your actions now only prove that I made the right choice." L added rationally.

Light stared at him in disbelief. "You arrogant little…" he started before checking himself. "Do you think me stupid?" he asked. "Just because I have never left my home village does not make me an idiot L."

Surprise showed faintly on L's normally expressionless face. "I do not find you stupid at all, Light." he said quietly. "In fact, I believe you are far more intelligent than you like to let on."

At this, Light raised an eyebrow archly. "Oh really? Then what was your reasoning behind the theory that I wouldn't understand your scheming?"

"Just that."

Light gave him another disbelieving look, which was of course, ignored by the person at whom it was aimed. "I don't believe you L. You look down, not only on me, but on everyone you meet or speak to, you hold absolutely no respect for anyone bar yourself- and for no real reason either, I might add, and frankly I'm sick of your high-handed attitude and being manipulated to suit your whims."

L rewarded this tirade with a politely puzzled expression. "You do not like your new circumstances then Light?" he asked.

"What does _that _have to do with the price of peas?"

"The lady Misa seems to be quite taken with you."

"I know. I _had _noticed. It would be near impossible not to notice, actually. But at the risk of repeating myself- what does that have to do with the price of peas?"

"Absolutely nothing to do with the horrid things." L said, nose wrinkling in distaste.

"_L…_" Light said, clenching a fist at his side.

"Yes Light?"

"You are, without a doubt, the most infuriating creature I have ever had the misfortune to meet. I haven't the faintest clue _why_ I saved you."

L stared coldly at him, his mood seeming to change with mercurial swiftness and Light felt a chill race down his spine. A feeling that some form of line had just been crossed.

"_Then perhaps you shouldn't have._" L hissed, turning on his heel and stalking from the room.

Light stared after him, jaw dropped. _'He never really loses that infuriatingly calm countenance- perhaps…' _he thought with a slight sense of guilt. _'Perhaps I went too far with that 'creature' comment. It must have hit a nerve- he __**was **__about to be executed for being a matagot after all… Though really,'_ he reasoned, features taking on a self-righteous cast as he subconsciously tried to get rid of that horrible feeling of guilt, _'What does he expect with his odd manner and appearance?"_

**--**

"That boy has a definite streak of cruelty." L muttered to himself as he stalked aimlessly down one of the many halls in the manor. The outward beauty of the place was mimicked on the inside too- the walls shone with cleanliness and were hung about with the odd tapestry or painting, the floors also were fastidiously well-cleaned and the interior architecture was just as wondrous as the rest. But- there was something odd about it also- an almost dead sense of non-realism.

"Who does, Ryuuzaki?" asked a puzzled voice from behind him. L turned.

"Ah, Lady Misa. Hello. Do not worry; it is of no concern to you." She shrugged delicately, perfectly coiffed hair bobbing as she nodded. "Perhaps not, but there's no need to be so disrespectful. Misa was just curious. Is the Marquis still awake? Misa would like to show him around the grounds." she said brightly, blue eyes sparkling as they misted over with a look L had seen before, though never directed at him.

'_She likes him.'_ he realised. _'Perhaps even lusts for him.'_

The thought disturbed him, perhaps more than it should. Misa and Light? The only way she'd be able to sleep with him would be to marry him- her father would allow no less, being a noble family. Logically, he supposed it even made sense. They would be a perfect match- their children would be beautiful and Light would gain a _true_ position at court, rather than the one that L had made up for a cover story. But- the thought of her _actually_ sleeping with Light was… repugnant.

L looked Misa up and down, taking in her immaculate white gown, her softly feminine curves, her aristocratic featured face and shining golden hair dispassionately.

It would unsettle him, yes, and disturb him too. But it _would_ fulfill the terms of the binding, and it would free Light from being attached to someone whom he seemed to dislike so. Therefore the only logical response was…

"He is still awake yet."

* * *

Chapter 3: Done!  
Chapter 4: About to begin typing.

Terribly sorry for the slow pace of my updates... I know I hate that, and I'm most apologetic that I'm doing it to you, but you know, the trappings of real life and all... --;

Smile! :D

Ireina


	4. The Duke of Felrawthy

**Matagot 4- The Duke of Felrawthy.**

* * *

Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note. If I did, everything after the Yotsuba arc would not have occured, L and Light would've hooked up two eps after the chain went on and Near, Mello and Matt would've come in in some other fashion (Just because they rock). I do, however own some of the legends attributed with the 'Matagot', (which is a real French myth, who'da thunk it?) and the general AU.

**Warning: AU, Yaoi/Shonen-Ai. If you don't like, please don't read! Rated for later content, possible swearing, definite limes and possible violence. LightxL, possible side pairings to be decided.  
**

**Flames shall be extinguished with great force because it is bush-fire season and I hate bush-fires. Many Australians do.**

Credit goes to my beta, **TsumeLover666** for another excellent job!

**Dedicated to the following lovely Reviewers!! (Italics anonymous)**

Hime

Neikrider

_V. V. Kiri_- No, I hate it when ppl make Misa so -chy, it _does_ tend to ruin fics I believe

TsumeLover666

C Elise

thitewiger

yingyingyang

Translucent Darkness

Legacy of Samsara

Sayoko's-fire

Violet Velvetine

sasunaru-yaoi-4evea-39

Amorpheous

Kirin-kun

Black-Danzer-1119

ahou incarnate

_The Book Fairy_

chibikuro-rose-sama

_Lucy_

Shadow-L-Chan

Much loves for you all, this story is really progressing nicely (or starting to)! I will graduate on the 21st November! \o/ Can't wait!

Enjoy! :D

Ireina

* * *

L trailed behind Misa as she made her way through the halls with unnerving sureness toward the room in which Light currently resided. She lifted up her hand, and, just as she was about to knock, the door flung open and Light called out a single letter.

"L?!" colliding with Misa quite by accident as he near flew out of the room. "Oh, Lady Misa! I am terribly sorry about that, but have you seen-" he babbled, trying to untangle his long limbed body from Misa's skirts.

L silently held out a hand in front of him. Light paused, looking up at him.

"Ryuuzaki…" Light finished sheepishly. Tentatively, he took L's hand and the dark-haired male pulled him to his feet, leaving Misa to struggle to stand alone. "Thank you." Light said, not looking L in the eyes. It was the closest thing to an apology L would get from Light.

L studied his face silently for a second or two before replying. "You're… welcome." he said softly, the words tasting foreign on his lips.

"_Why_ are you thanking your servant? You're really far too kind Marquis; you really ought to scold him." Misa asked with honest curiosity, struggling to her feet without fuss.

"What?" Light said, voice inadvertently showing his confusion. L lowered his vacant gaze to the polished floor, knowing what she meant, but unable to inform Light without exposing Light as a charlatan.

"Well, he should have assisted me first- as the lady of the court in which you're staying, _then_ you, as his master. He needs to perform his duties properly." she explained calmly, before looking at L with surprising sharpness, and L realized she wasn't quite the airhead he had initially believed her to be.(Really, he must be losing his edge, all these people he was underestimating. It simply _wasn't_ good enough.)

"Things are different where I come from, my lady." Light said smoothly, recovering and hiding his lack of information. _'That boy really has a gift for politics. Honestly, if he actually had a decent education…'_ L thought, admiring his ability to brazen his way through- it was almost as good as L's own. _'With practice, he might be almost dangerous.'_

"Oh, your accent is so _sweet_!" Misa squealed, and the brief flash of intelligence was gone. Perhaps he had imagined it? Noticing the look on Light's face at the high-pitched, ear-aching noise and was hard pressed not to smile at the obvious restraint of Light's urge to roll his eyes. He predicted that soon he would be cornered with Light demanding to know what was going on. Hm. That would be a situation to avoid, as L doubted he could explain it satisfactorily without giving anything away.

"My lady, weren't you looking for my lord Marquis?" L asked, staring at a random spot on the ceiling. He felt the burning glare Light sent his way, but ignored it in favor of continuing to stare, a fact which always irritated Light. He was not disappointed as he felt the glare intensify.

"Oh, yes! Marquis, Misa would like to show you the gardens of the estate! They are the most beautiful in the land, save for the King's of course." She giggled, smiling brightly.

"Oh, I would not wish to trouble my lady…" Light demurred.

"Oh, it's no trouble at all, Marquis! Come!" she said, latching on to Light's left arm.

Helpless to stop her without seeming impolite, Light was forced to allow her to tug him in the direction of the gardens. L looked down, turning his gaze on the pair as they left. He caught the look Light sent over his shoulder, demanding aid. Stifling his amusement, L waved at him before turning and, with deliberate slowness, ambled off the way he'd come.

--

'_This must be his revenge for what I said to him earlier.'_ Light thought resignedly as Misa pulled him behind her, gabbling about the various gardens that apparently could be found around the estate. He did not realize that without a single word of chastisement, L had effectively rendered him apologetic.

--

L walked, following the same invisible path that his feet had found earlier, his thoughts turning from one thing to the next, flying about, calculating actions and possible reactions, weighing up possible outcomes of their situation, and how to obtain the most favorable. But he soon found his calculations sluggish, his thoughts suddenly reluctant to seek possible futures.

'_Why is my thought process so slow?'_ he wondered, frustrated. _'This should be so easy- especially without Light to interrupt my calculations with his idle chatter.'_ But, as though he had opened the floodgates, thoughts of Light began to infiltrate his calculations.

Each time he tried to predict some particular thing Light might say as part of his attempts to predict ahead, L found his thoughts instead turning… dare he say… _fondly_ to particular expressions the younger male had worn as he had spoken some similar thing just the other day.

Ire increasing, L forcefully shoved those thoughts away, giving up on his precious calculations in disgust.

"My discipline has slipped_ terribly_," he muttered aloud, slouching even further from his usual poor posture to one that would have made Light twitch in irritation (For some reason, it seemed to get to him when L did that. L now took great pleasure in doing it.) "First, _sleeping,_ of all things then _this_! It is appalling."

Aimlessly he continued to wander the halls of Felrawthy, ignoring the greetings he received from the other servants as he went, until a butler tapped him on one hunched shoulder apologetically.

"I'm sorry, perhaps you weren't told? None of us except those designated specifically by the Chief Advisor or the Duke himself are allowed into that wing."

L looked up at the man before staring vacantly at the hand on his shoulder until the other man removed it somewhat self-consciously.

"And what, pray tell, is _in_ that wing?" he asked the butler with mild curiosity coloring his usually emotionless tone.

"Why, the Duke's suite of course, and his private rooms." replied the butler confusedly.

"Ah. Thank you." L murmured. The Duke's rooms? Some part of him urged that he go and investigate- _insisted_ even. His curiosity agreed.

He wandered towards a side room, ostentatiously to leave the door to the forbidden wing well enough alone, entering the room and picking up a fold of the exquisite wall-tapestry hanging just near the window between thumb and forefinger, pretending to peer closely at the stitching, using the action to hide the dancing fingers of his other hand.

He watched through the door as the butler nodded satisfied, muttering "Good to see a young one who knows how to listen to his elders." Not seeming to see L through the doorway, the older man continued about his business, striding down the corridor. L waited a minute to be sure he was gone before ambling over to the open door, latching it shut and opening the window to the gardens.

Several minutes later, a white cat with dark grey eyes and distinctive black markings leapt out the opened window, circling back towards the servant's door at the edge of the garden, slipping between the rose-bushes with ease. Just as it was almost to its goal, it felt a pair of soft and dainty hands pick it up around its middle and heard a loud, high-pitched squeal which hurt the poor animal's sensitive ears, prompting a loud (and mightily displeased) yowl, although it resisted with phenomenal strength of will the urge to _scratch_ the idiotic thing making such a terrible noise.

"Oh, look! Isn't it gorgeous! Her fur's so beautiful and _soft_!" a female voice belonging to the owner of those hands said. At that, its fur bristled and it yowled once more indignantly.

A more masculine voice corrected the female, taking the cat from her uncomfortable grasp and its fur settled slightly at the familiar voice and scent that now enveloped it.

"_His_ fur _is_ soft, my lady."

The cat shifted, and the male human let it settle in a more comfortable hold, resting on one of his arms. A slightly rough hand somewhat calloused from toil in the fields caressed its fur in long rhythmic strokes and the cat began to purr loudly, albeit reluctantly.

"Do you know whom it belongs to, Marquis?" the female voice asked. "Misa simply _cannot_ think who owns it- Misa has never seen him around here before, so he can't belong to the kitchens…" The cat bristled, fur rising. "Is he _yours,_ Marquis?"

The cat froze, turning its head slightly to stare at Light (whose hands had paused on the animal's fur) with its unnerving eyes.

Light looked back at the animal with some amusement. "This cat is not one to be owned I believe. He goes where he will."

"Oooh, then Misa could keep him!" the female interrupted, letting out another squeal, causing the cat's claws to unconsciously unsheathe and grip Light's clothing as though refusing to go to the female.

"I was not finished, my lady." the human holding the cat said in gentle rebuke. "I do not believe he is one to be owned, but I suppose that, as far as ownership goes, you might as well say I'm _his_ human." Light told her, scratching gently under the animal's chin, causing an increase in the volume of its purring. When the male noticed the bafflement in her eyes, he clarified. "I do not own this cat- it, well, _he_ adopted _me_. He follows me of his own accord."

Understanding dawned in the female's eyes, and the cat shifted in Light's arms, staring at the grass, although making no move to try and escape the gentle hold of the human male.

"Oh." the female said in a disappointed fashion. "Ah well, Misa can still play with him, yes?" she cooed, reaching to stroke the animal's ears. It hissed, lashing out with a paw in a warning swipe, making sure its claws were first sheathed, and the female recoiled with yet another squeal. "Oh! Marquis, your cat nearly _scratched_ me! You really need to control him better."

"His claws are sheathed." Light told her, gently picking up the paw in question without fuss from the cat. "And cats, though this one in particular it seems, are lightning fast- if he'd really wanted to scratch you, he'd have done so. He just doesn't like to be touched by strangers- it took several months for him to trust me enough to pat him and this is the first time he's allowed me to hold him this long." Light said, the part-lie rolling smoothly off his tongue.

As though to agree with the story, the cat gave a sharp meow before trying to jump down, easily escaping the gentle hold of the human and racing off in its intended direction.

"What is its name? Misa never asked." the cat heard briefly in its helter skelter dash to the relative safety of the servants hall.

--

Light tilted his head to the side, watching the odd cat disappear with a tiny smirk playing about his mouth. Really it was almost as though L had taken animal form, the way that cat behaved sometimes.

"It's name?" Light said, echoing the blonde girl's question.

"Yes, you know, what you call it?"

Light smirked, knowing that L would have been horrified at his next statement and slightly pleased that this time the joke would be on the raven-haired youth. "I call him L."

"Elle?" she asked, puzzled.

"L." Light confirmed seriously.

--

At that moment, said male was standing in a hallway, one hand clutching at his clothing just above his heart as though the organ was causing him pain. Tiny droplets beaded his forehead under his unruly black hair, and one trickled down the line of his elegant neck. He winced, though the expression was hard to see through the dappled sunlight and shadows.

"A _most_ unexpected turn of events." he said softly, eyes blank. "But really," he added. "I should have been far more careful."

No, what he _really _should have done was escape Light's hold sooner.

L sighed once, releasing his loose clothing and closing his eyes.

--

Soon the white-furred cat made its reappearance, ignored by all the servants, hurrying along on their various errands.

In no time at all, the cat was opposite the door to the wing that the old butler had earlier warned L was forbidden. Patiently it drew itself up and sat primly, black-tipped tail swishing slowly as it stared down the hall.

Presently, another servant came scurrying along the corridor, a single dark blue sprig of hemlock embroidered on the breast of his plain cotton waistcoat. The servant opened the door and continued along the corridor, not noticing the cat that slipped through the door just before he closed it.

Keeping to the shadows, the cat followed the servant at a sedate pace, glancing all around it curiously. The servant opened a door, the creaking hinges catching the animal's attention, its black ears twitching toward the innocuous sound. With a darting motion, it entered the room with the servant.

The human collected an empty dinner tray, bowed, and left, inadvertently shutting the cat in the room.

Its eyes widened before it went back to the door, as though to check that it truly _was_ closed.

"So _that_ is the form you must take?" came an old man's voice contemptuously. "How pitiful."

The cat turned back to face the form sitting on the bed. It yowled defiantly at him.

"Come, surely you know who I am?" chuckled the old man's weak voice. "Defiant one, I am your Adversary." The man who surely must be the Duke himself stood, taking a step towards the animal, face gaunt and wasted, once lustrous hair hanging limp and lifeless around his aged face.

The cat's only response was a contemptuous noise more like a laugh than anything else.

"You _dare_ laugh?" asked the old man furiously, clenching his fists at his side. Power gathered, swirling around him in a dark maelstrom, the eerie light returning some semblance of health to his time-ravaged features.

Warily, the black-marked white cat moved to the side, jumping onto the desk in the corner, well out of the way of the tendrils of power slinking out toward it.

"You bear no _true_ power; you are no Adversary. I have more power in a single hair than you in your entire body." came a surprisingly clear voice. "What did you trade for that weak sense of power? Your health, I would presume."

"Insolence!" roared the Duke. "I will become a _lion_ and kill you, you weak little _pet_!"

Both the form of the Duke and that of the cat began to shimmer like a mirage, before the door swung open and the cat ran from the room.

"Master, we heard you yelling, are you well? You really oughtn't to be out of bed, the doctors said-" began a worried servant.

Rolling his eyes and coughing heavily before returning to bed, the Duke cut him off. "I am _fine_. Bunch of incompetents." he muttered under his breath.

--

The cat's form began to shake uncontrollably and it skidded to a halt, still in the Duke's forbidden wing.

--

Soon a familiar dark-haired figure was sitting on the ground, slumped against the wall, shaking as sweat poured down his face, neck and arms, his breathing irregular and labored.

"By _God_ that hurts… should never have done that _twice_… those are absolute_ hell_ to loosen that suddenly…" he muttered to himself incomprehensibly between gasps for air.

After several minutes, he struggled to his feet, masking the shakes expertly as he walked towards the doorway out of the forbidden wing. Luck, that fickle mistress, was not with him, as the same old butler he'd encountered earlier returned along the hall in front of him, just in time to catch him coming out of the forbidden wing.

In a typical response to this sort of situation, L slumped even further, rolling his eyes irritably as he was predictably told off and chivvied down the halls.

--

"Ah, my lady, Marquis." the servant said, bowing as best he could without releasing L.

"Hello. What on Earth are you doing with the Marquis's servant?" the blonde woman asked, clinging to Light's arm.

"A question _I _should like answered also. What on Earth _are_ you doing with Ryuuzaki?" Light added with a frown directed at the pair.

"He was caught in the forbidden wing, my lady." the servant told them.

"A forbidden wing? But as we are visitors, I'm certain Ryuuzaki was unaware this place was forbidden when he entered it, after all _I_ did not know there was a forbidden wing myself." Light countered dismissively. "And how could a servant be expected to know what even his master was not told?"

"Unfortunately, my lord Marquis, I had already encountered him earlier wandering about near the entranceway and I informed him that that wing was forbidden at that time."

"Yes, Light, I'm afraid I was informed." L told Light, staring blankly ahead at Light and Misa with a faraway expression on his face, as though he wasn't entirely present.

"Do not call your master by his first name!" Misa and the butler exclaimed in scandalized tones. "As for the forbidden wing, I'm afraid you _must_ suffer ten lashes." Misa continued.

Light opened his mouth to protest, but in an uncharacteristic display of backbone, Misa held up her hand, silencing him with a _look_. "Marquis, Misa is quite allowed to punish your servant for knowingly trespassing, as you ought to know. Misa cannot allow her family to be insulted so. Because he is the Marquis's servant, Misa is being extremely nice and _only_ giving him ten." she explained to Light in an almost reconciliatory tone. Reluctantly, seeing no other choice Light nodded.

"Take him away. Stripe him immediately." she ordered.

As L was taken away, he heard her turn to Light and, in a tone that gave no hint she'd just ordered him to be whipped, she said, "What should Misa show the Marquis next?"

**--**

The manservant he'd been handed off to for punishment waited as L removed the tunic and the undershirt covering his back. As L folded the clothing neatly, laying it aside, the manservant whistled.

"Ye're very skinny lad. And ye've an impressive set of scarring already. Y're master must be cruel." Studying his back further, he added, "And inventive, barely any of those are whip marks."

"Yes, I was aware. But it was not my master that gave me these marks. He is not a cruel person by nature." L said softly, turning to face the other male, who drew in a gasp.

"_What_ happened to y' before the Marquis took y'in?" he breathed in shock.

"It is of little consequence."

The other man whistled again. "Come; let's get this over with then. Call me Mogi by the way. I'll do my best not to add more scars to your collection."

With that, he tied L securely to the pole used for floggings ("Just a matter of your safety lad, can't have y' squirming about, could miss and hurt y' more.") and picked up the whip to be used. He lifted it up, calling out, "Ready? Do y' want something to bite on?"

L shook his head grimly. "Just start. I will be fine."

Mogi shrugged. "Suit y'self." he said. "First!" he called, cracking the whip expertly, the sound of leather hitting flesh echoing through the courtyard.

L winced slightly but made no other acknowledgement of the pain he must have been feeling.

"Second."

Another stripe opened, blood ruby red against the white flesh of L's back.

"Third."

The same again.

"Fourth."

And so on, until finally,

"Tenth."

With that Mogi put down the whip. "Ye've an ungodly high pain tolerance." he said with some awe. "Usually y' hear them caterwauling after the third clear across the grounds." He untied L carefully, supporting the other man as he briefly collected himself. "Will y' be fine to return? There's a woman in the kitchens who knows about herbs- she'll help ye. She's no friend of the Duke- or his pretty little niece. Forbidden wing _indeed_." he muttered under his breath.

"I will be fine."

Donning his clothes, seemingly heedless of the pain at the contact with the fresh and bleeding semi-deep flesh wounds, L began to meander back towards the quarters he was to share with the other servants of the house.

He never quite got there as his feet took a different path of their own accord, pulling him along the halls towards Light's rooms.

Without him even knocking, the door swung open as though Light had known he was there.

--

Light stood in the doorway, leaning against the left side of it, face sober. "I am so sorry L; I would have stopped it if I could." Light said quietly, not mentioning the fact that it was almost entirely L's own fault for digging his own grave.

It was then that L seemed to realize that Light's torso was completely naked and gleaming slightly in the soft candlelight.

"Light was bathing? I will return later." L said, carefully looking anywhere but at Light, to Light's great amusement.

"No, but they sent up hot water. And one of the kitchen girls brought up a pack of herbal paste and bandages, as though she knew you'd come here."

"If Light was not bathing, then why…"

"Am I not wearing at least an undershirt?" Light asked amusedly. "Because the _dear_ lady quite tired me out with her endless nattering and I was considering sleep. Come in, I might as well dress those for you since they sent me everything I need to do it with." Light said matter-of-factly, stepping aside to allow L to enter.

"I really should just let you go to sleep Light- I do not know why I came up here quite honestly."

"Oh, don't be moronic." Light said irritably, grasping L's slender wrist and pulling him into the room, shutting the door. "Lie down." he ordered.

"Light really does not have to, I'll be…" L trailed off as Light glared at him, brown-gold eyes shimmering that eerie red-bronze color once again in the candlelight, seeming to captivate L for a second as he stared at those odd depths. He visibly shook himself out of it. "Very well." L sighed, beginning to remove his upper-body clothing for the second time that day, wincing as the material of his undershirt stuck on the semi-dry blood. "It is not worth arguing with Light I suppose, as he seems to feel quite guilty for some reason."

"I do not. Lie down would you." the younger male said crisply, hiding how those ten stripes made his blood boil. And… those terribly varying scars on his front…

L complied without a fuss, laying stomach down on the bed. Light dipped a piece of cloth he presumed had been intended for just such a purpose, squeezing the excess out before laying it over one of the angry wounds to a small hiss from L as he gently wiped it across the bloody stripe.

"Sorry." he apologized, rinsing the cloth and continuing to clean the other's torn and bloody back with the same gentle strokes.

"It is fine."

As soon as that arduous task was complete, and L's back was clean of the blood that had seeped down his back, Light warned, "This may sting, I'm about to put that paste on these now." before matching action to words. Again, L gave a hiss, but this time his muscles stiffened, and once again Light apologized.

"It is necessary, Light. As I have already explained to you, it is _quite_ alright." L replied in a voice that was ever so slightly strained. If Light hadn't been looking for signs like that, he would never have noticed it.

He let it pass though. If the darker haired man wanted to pretend the treatment did not hurt, then Light wasn't about to let on that he knew how painful it was. L would surely have just denied feeling pain with another of his vague, dismissive evasions anyway.

"I should probably let that sit a while before I bandage your back." Light mused, admiring his handiwork critically.

"If Light thinks it best, I am sure he knows far more than I on this particular subject." L replied in the same strangled variation of his usual emotionless voice.

"And _what_ are you implying with that statement?" Light asked, only vaguely indignant. He knew L was likely just trying to distract himself by picking a fight.

"I am implying nothing, Light. I am merely expressing confidence in your… abilities." L turned his head so as to look directly at Light over his shoulder, blinking owlishly. "Why are you picking a fight with an injured companion?" L continued, going for the kill. "Did the lady Misa truly tire you out that much?" he inquired.

Light's eyes narrowed dangerously. Just _what_ did L think he'd gotten up to with the lady Misa? Oh, he _knew _L was merely picking a fight. He was just surprised to see what looked like jealousy cropping up in the other male. What he also didn't understand was L's real reasons for picking an argument. It couldn't just be the pain of the treatment, for then he wouldn't be able to pick up on that and throw it in Light's face.

"You are well enough to attempt to manipulate me into a fight." Light pointed out acidly, sick of his antics, injured or not. "But while I freely admit the lady tired me out, we were doing _nothing_ improper for heaven's sake and I resent that implication. I also resent you trying to push me into fighting with you just so you can distract yourself from the pain. I would _never_ pick a fight with you over mere irritation, and I find myself unexpectedly _hurt _that you seem to think so lowly of me, L." Light said in a quiet yet vehement voice, noting with mild pleasure the look of something that seemed almost suspiciously like surprise that flitted across L's infuriatingly blank face.

"I did not mean to… upset Light." L said slowly, staring at Light's face intently.

"I am sure you didn't." Light agreed blandly, desperately trying to keep the amusement from L's awkward attempt at making amends out of his voice and features. "But nonetheless, you _did._" he added.

"I suppose… it would be proper for me to… apologize."

"It would."

But L said no more, turning his face back to its previous position, and Light, knowing that was the closest thing to an apology he was likely to get from L, wisely chose to drop the issue.

Instead he trailed his fingertips down L's spine, examining not only the almost sickly slender stature, but the odd scarring as well as the fresh stripes. The white, white flesh was surprisingly soft where it was not scarred or injured. Light would have thought that such pale skin would resemble paper to the touch but not so with L. His skin was more like the texture of the petals of his mother's precious roses than anything else.

Come to think of it, L was just as prickly as one of them too when in one of his 'moods'.

Shoving the odd comparison from his mind, Light realized that not only had L stiffened to the point that his muscles were completely solid, he seemed to be muttering intelligible nonsense under his breath.

"My apologies, I know it hurts. I was checking to see if your wounds were ready to bandage yet, and they are," Light said, half-lying about his intentions. "So let's get them bandaged rather quickly, before they become bad, hm?"

* * *

Chapter 4: Done!

Chapter 5: Typing!

Thank you all for your support, and I hope you all enjoyed! :D

Smile! :D

Ireina


	5. To Gain another 'Servant'

**Matagot 5- To Gain Another 'Servant'.**

* * *

Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note. If I did, everything after the Yotsuba arc would not have occured, L and Light would've hooked up two eps after the chain went on and Near, Mello and Matt would've come in in some other fashion (Just because they rock). I do, however own some of the legends attributed with the 'Matagot', (which is a real French myth, who'da thunk it?) and the general AU.

**Warning: AU, Yaoi/Shonen-Ai. If you don't like, please don't read! Rated for later content, possible swearing, definite limes and possible violence. LightxL, possible side pairings to be decided.  
**

**Flames shall be extinguished with great force because it is bush-fire season and I hate bush-fires. Many Australians do.**

Credit goes to my betas, **TsumeLover666** and **Shadow of Egypt **for a truly excellent and job and swift return!

**Dedicated to my awesome Reviewers! (italics anonymous)**

C Elise

Black-Dranzer-1119

_V. V. Kiri_

Yoshiluvr

Violet Velvetine

chibikuro rose-sama

sasunaru-yaoi-4evea39

fantasies4eva

Translucent Darkness

htotheizzo

Kyorose

Thank you for reviewing! I appreciate that you took the time to tell me your thoughts.

Also, I have a poll as to whether people would be interested to see a Death Note/Black Jewels Trilogy crossover. I have some ideas floating around somewhere, and I'm wondering if I should put it on my 'to eventually write' list. Head on over! I've also got summaries of other possible fics on my profile.

And yes, I did change my penname from ireina15963 to Ireina Kurotsuki (Ireina is just a name, but Kurotsuki is literally 'Black-Moon'. I'd have chosen Red-Moon (Akai-Tsuki) but that's too similar to Akatsuki lol!

Also, Shadow is a new addition to the Matagot crew, and is helping me with beta'ing along with TsumeLover666- I luffles them both. Welcome Shadow. Thanks to both of you again for taking time to check my stupid mistakes! :D

If anyone has ideas for quotes I could put on the beginning, I'd love to hear them. I have a few, but there are so many I'm not sure which I'd like to use... Though more likely than not I'll forget to put it on the fic anyway...

At any rate, hope you enjoy this! Finally some damn CONTACT! (that isn't drunkeness) pokes Light and L Damn clueless yet cute, uncooperative genii.

Smile! :D  
Ireina

* * *

L was frozen in place. Truly this was most out of character for him, so given was he to fidget, yet he was holding himself remarkably still.

The reasoning behind this was the fact that Light, _Light _of all people was currently tending to his injured back (that he had injured entirely himself through an uncharacteristic lack of thought and a dangerous curiosity) and much worse than even that, Light's gently rhythmic stroking along his back, even though over semi-deep fleshwounds, still somehow managed to feel _nice_.

L was unused to the sensation of being touched by another being in anything but anger or malice, which was his main reasoning behind the appalled disgust at himself for not only enjoying the touch, but at his body for actually beginning to react to it.

"You do realise L, that for me to put these bandages on, you'll have to sit up straight?"

"Ah… yes. So I shall." L said, disguising with expertise his sudden awkwardness as he complied. He felt Light's critical gaze on his back as the other young man debated how best to apply the bandages.

L almost yelped in a _most_ undignified way when he felt a hand against his upper left chest, but held it in. It was, after all, beneath him to yelp in such a way at such an innocent touch.

"Hold that there for me, would you?" Light ordered and L complied, though as slowly as he could, just to show that he didn't appreciate being ordered to do _anything_, even when it was for his own good. "These are spread fairly evenly, wouldn't you say? Usually I'd imagine that they just wouldn't care where they hit you, and would consider accidental layering to make the cuts deeper a bonus. But it's almost as though whoever did this wanted to make sure _none _of these were deep." Light thought aloud, L guessed half to himself.

"Mogi _did_ say he didn't want to add stripes to my other scars." L admitted somewhat distractedly, more focused on ignoring the gentle touch of the other male.

"How on Earth did you get the other ones anyway?" Light asked, surprisingly deft hands pausing in their task.

Brought back to Earth with a great thud, L paused, choosing his words carefully. "Did you imagine that the other people in the village merely left me alone, though they believed me to be a demon?" he asked, turning his head just enough to see Light's face, and his reaction.

That abnormally perfect face was crinkled into a frown. "No." the other said quietly. "Though I would have hoped…"  
"That their obviously very fine morals would have kept them from it?" L questioned, voice empty as always, though he had to fight for it. "Not everybody has such a high moral standing as yourself, Light." he said, allowing his voice to show uncharacteristic gentleness as the younger's face fell ever so slightly. "It is a fine wish however." he added as an afterthought.

L felt Light resume the task at hand, noting the thoughtful frown on his face as he turned his head back to its previous position, staring at the stone wall, though not really seeing it.

"There." Light said in a proud tone. "Done."

"Thank you Light." L said.

"I must have done a good job for you to actually be _thanking _me. You're welcome, by the way." Light busied himself rolling the unneeded bandages. As though noticing L begin to rise, he added; "You might as well stay here; you must be sore. Besides, there's plenty of space."

"Ah - thank you for offering Light, but it is quite unnecessary. I have been given quarters in the servant's wing already." L deferred.

Light snorted, pausing in his rolling. "Come now, I know you were a hermit for _how_ many years; you've been itching to get away from all these people since we arrived here; that's why you wandered off, isn't it? You can't stand so many people around you after only having your own thoughts for company for so very long. Even I took you a while to get used to." he said, again unconsciously revealing how perceptive of L he had become.

L had to wonder whether the younger male's observation skills were just that good, or whether he'd been watching L for some reason. Had he become suspicious? "Besides which, it's safer for you to 'sleep' here. You barely sleep as it is, and it's a fair guess that if any of the other servants happen to waken and notice your absence during the night that they will become more suspicious of you and at the moment I haven't enough knowledge of the laws of this place, nor the political clout to protect you. I do not care if you wander rather than sleep at night, and you cannot afford to attract more attention than you already have with your excursion, and you know it."

L tilted his head to the side, somewhat surprised at Light's accurate summation. And, as much as he _hated_ to admit it, Light was right. Attention was not something he liked at the best of times, and right now it was definitely a commodity they could ill afford.

"I suppose Light is correct." L said slowly; reluctantly.

"Of course I am." Light said smugly. L felt the mattress rise under him as Light stood. "Well, I'm going to sleep. Stay or not, do as you please. I'll snuff these candles out in just a minute." the other continued, collecting the bowl holding the small amount of leftover herbal paste and placing both it and the bandages in his hand on the table.

Idly, L watched Light's graceful movements. He had seen Light's naked torso before as he'd swum - though the rest of him had been thankfully (or not, L was no longer quite sure which) covered by the water -, but the warm candlelight made this time different, turning Light's skin as caramel-golden as his hair, making the other male quite the most beautiful thing L had seen, even counting the many lovely tapestries and paintings that adorned the walls of the manor.

"You are fifteen summers old, correct?" he asked suddenly, curiosity striking him.

Light turned to him, brow raised. "Seventeen summers actually. I don't look _that_ young, do I?"

"Definitely not."  
Light hummed. "Why do you ask anyway?"

"You seem far younger than I, in both the way you think and the way you react."

"And just how old are you?"

"I have seen twenty-three summers, though on All-Hallows it shall be twenty-four exactly."

"That is not so great a difference."

"One would not think so." L said guardedly.

"And at any rate, you do not seem your age at all."

"As I am aware, Light."

Nothing more was mentioned on the subject of age, though L's face now bore a contemplative expression as he watched Light moving about the chamber.

"Nobles' rooms often have a servant's alcove for a lady's personal maid to be close to their mistress. Perhaps there is one here?" L said finally, rising as Light made to snuff out the candles.

The younger male turned to him. "Truly? I hadn't noticed if there was… But then, I haven't explored this suite yet."

"Perhaps I will do that while you sleep." L said thoughtfully.

"Do you need a candle left alight?" Light asked, pausing at the one candle left.

"That will be quite unnecessary, Light. It will irritate you while you sleep, at any rate."

"The moon isn't full enough to see by yet, are you sure?" Light asked sceptically.

"Quite sure, thank you. I possess quite good night vision. It was a thoughtful offer, however."

Light shrugged. "As you wish." he said, snuffing out the last candle lighting the room, plunging them both into the darkness.

"Pleasant dreams to you Light."

"I would say the same to you, except that I am almost certain you'll not sleep. Pleasant… wandering to you, or whatever else you intend to do this evening." Light replied dryly.

**--**

Storm-cloud grey eyes tinted into luminosity by the scant moonlight peeking through the window stared at the sleeper. A noise from just outside the chamber drew those ethereal eyes to the door, which slowly began to ease open. A familiar scent reached its nose and its nose twitched at the pine resin, ink and wood smoke that assaulted its senses.

A familiar human with wavy dark hair soundlessly entered the room, hiding something in his hand with a distasteful, almost sorrowful expression on his face. The owner of those grey eyes hissed softly, puffing his fur in warning, and the human jumped, charcoal brown eyes swinging to the noise guiltily.

"Don't touch him."

The intruder held up his hands, showing the hidden object in his hand to be a tiny vial, not much bigger than the stormy-eyed cat's hind paw.

"This is not intended for you." the man whispered. "Please do not interfere."

"I am bound to him and his safety. I can do nothing else."

"_Please_. If I do not accomplish this task this time _he_'ll-"

"Kill you for your failure?" The cat swished his tail nonchalantly.

"You knew?" the human said resignedly. "Of course you did, your kind can detect mine, and you probably knew my business as soon as you saw me."

"Who _else_ could have done it? 'Mika' indeed." the cat sniffed. "I was _most_ displeased to hear your kind is interfering in matters that, by Law, are none of your business."

"Do not insult me or mine, _matagot_." warned 'Mika'. "When we are bound, we are bound just as tightly as you are. I had no choice, and well you know it."

"I have insulted nobody. I will warn you but _once_, Mikami. Take action against Light again, and whether or not you have a choice…" The cat seemed to smile, fur flattening to its normal state as its tail stilled. "I'll rip your throat out." it said matter-of-factly, voice chilling in its utter neutrality, as though it didn't care whether or not it had to make good on its threat - it was all up to Mikami.

"In that form you are tied to, I think _not_." Mikami scoffed.

The cat lifted up its left forepaw and began to bathe its ears, using the paw as a wash-cloth as it answered him; "I _do_ have my ways, Mikami. You, of all people, ought to know that I do not make idle threats.

The man sighed and the vial disappeared from his hand. "I know." he said, running a hand through his hair. "But if I do not do this thing, my Master will kill me."

"A rock and a hard place, hm?" It paused in its washing. "There is nothing _I_ may do…" it said carefully.

"_You_ may do?"

The cat stood, slinking over to the miraculously still sleeping teenager and curling against his side, staring at Mikami as it rested its head on its white paws.

"Nothing at all." it affirmed, staring intently at him.

"Very well…" Mikami said thoughtfully, staring at the moonlight softened teenager. "Good evening to you then, matagot. And… _your_ Master." he added before leaving the room, apparently deep in thought.

The cat shook its head exasperatedly before a slender hand anchored itself in its fur, pulling the animal closer to Light. The cat started in automatic surprise before realising that, short of waking Light, there was no way it was getting free before dawn. It gave up, settling into the comforting warmth of the boy and his scent.

**--**

It was warm. Toastily, deliciously _warm_. Those blankets they'd left for him were really quite exquisite in his opinion. With a small smile he pulled the object in his arms closer, snuggling into it. Whatever it was it tingled. Light's nose twitched as something brushed it and blearily he forced his eyes open to see what it was. His gaze found blackness - a halo-like cloud of hair like darkest sable.

"L?" he asked groggily. "What're you…? Why are you…?" He trailed off. He had never seen L so quiet and unguarded. The older male seemed perfectly at home, curled against him the way he was, cheek resting on those pale hands of his.

The sunlight stretched its gentle fingers through the room, yet the complete blackness of L's hair did not shine - rather it _absorbed_ the light into itself, capturing it just under the surface. Enthralled with the oddity Light softly touched it. It was warm and soft and smooth, despite its dishevelled array - an altogether too familiar texture that he just couldn't place. As his fingers touched the dark hair, his thoughts were somehow drawn towards the accidental touching of lips; (_'Not a kiss, definitely not a kiss'_ he hurried to remind himself) though he was at a loss to explain _why_.

He found himself recalling the _oddest_ of little details, such as the fact that L's lips had been soft and yet firm against his own and had tasted faintly sweet- _'__**Why**__ on Earth do I remember that?'_ Light wondered with that form of guilt disguised as disgust unique to his particular psyche. _'More to the point, why do I remember that __**taste**__, the taste of another man's lips-' _Here he ignored a treacherous little voice from the depths of his mind that whispered; _'He's not just another man, he's __**L**__.'_ as he continued firmly. _'-fondly of all things?'_

His hand paused on L's hair at that thought. _'__**Fondly**__?' _He looked at the being cradled in his arms. _'What on Earth is __**that**__ supposed to mean?'_

The other young man stirred, blinking sleep-filled storm-cloud grey eyes up at Light as he stretched, back arching.

"Good morning, L." he greeted cautiously.

L's eyes widened almost imperceptibly before he returned the greeting somewhat warily. "Good morning Light." he said slowly, arms lowering from stretching above his head to curl between them as though in an attempt to create a metaphorical barrier between the two.

"Can I ask… _dare_ I ask _why_ you ended up sleeping? In my bed too, no less?" Light asked cautiously.

L's typical politely blank mask slid over said man's face. "In truth, I myself am unsure Light."

Light raised an eyebrow at the resumption of the mask, but let the distancing technique slide despite the unexpected irritation it caused.

"Ah." he said distractedly, noticing that _something_ about the way L was laying was niggling at him. "You know, you _can_ get up now."

L nodded placidly, features showing nothing but his blankly polite expression. "I can, can't I." he agreed, not making any move to free himself from the loose hold Light was somehow loath to relinquish.

"You're being deliberately difficult." Light accused without any real malice.

"I would never do such a thing, Light." L told him aggrievedly, palms uncurling from fists to rest lightly against Light's bare chest.

Light's stomach did a funny kind of flip, as though butterflies were dancing around inside of it, his heart seeing fit to accelerate for some reason. He absently noticed that L's eyebrows had shot up, and had just enough time to vaguely wonder _why _- (the other _couldn't_ feel it himself, surely?) before there was a quick tap at the door, barely qualifying as a knock before said door flung open.

"Marquis! Excuse me, Marquis, but Misa wishes to… Oh, _my…_" A familiar blonde cyclone blew into the room, freezing at the doorway. Promptly, and with a class befitting her station she visibly collected herself, the red blush creeping along her cheekbones the only betrayer of her apparent embarrassment. "Misa wishes to apologise for her outrageously inappropriate behaviour yesterday; Misa wanted merely to explain… and, now Misa has seen… Misa also wishes to apologise for so rudely barging in without properly announcing herself, Misa only wished for no-one to notice her visit, for reasons of Misa's own. But, _do_ forgive Misa, but Misa had not the faintest clue that the Marquis was a lover of men." Her blush was now fully-fledged maroon on her face.

Light gave a spluttering noise at that blunt, (and of course _patently_ untrue) statement, while L merely lay unmovingly still.

"But do not worry - Misa will not tell! Misa can keep secrets very well. The servants will serve breakfast soon though, so both the Marquis and Ryuuzaki perhaps ought to finish… whatever it is they were doing rather quickly and dress, before someone comes up to make sure the Marquis knows to come down." She gave a wink and a womanly giggle of amusement quite unlike the silly, childish ones of the day before, before she left, pulling the wooden door shut behind her.

"She seems rather different from yesterday." L stated calmly. Light brought his attention back to the other male.

"Y… yes, she does…" Light said faintly. Wasn't L in the _least_ bit worried that this slip of a girl had misinterpreted the situation to such a degree? If she were to tell what she believed she had seen, she could cause _massive_ problems for the two of them.

"I wonder what she was referring to when she wished to explain her reasoning behind her obvious flirtations yesterday…" L said thoughtfully.

"It doesn't _bother_ you at all that the Lady Misa believes us to be…" Light nearly choked in embarrassment on the word. "L… lovers?"

"Not particularly." L replied. "And at least the will leave you alone for the most part, with some luck after seeing what she believes to be you and me sleeping together." L finished with a satisfied expression on his face.

"Ah, so you _were_ as irritated by her behaviour as I was then?" Light asked archly, raising a brow. "And here I was thinking you were a happy little matchmaker."

"Matchmaker?" L asked softly.

"You didn't think I'd notice?" Light replied disbelievingly.

At first L made no response, looking away from Light at something on the walls. "Perhaps… I was." L murmured finally. "I… I believed that you would not be… unreceptive to such a female's advances. The Lady Misa could be deemed rather attractive. And she would have… she would have been able to give Light a true position at court." he muttered this last under his breath, Light barely caught it.

"Is _that_ what it is?" Light gave a chuckle. "You wanted me to gain _status_ at court through _wedding_ the girl?"

L steadfastly refused to move his gaze from the wall, which he seemed to find absolutely _enthralling_, though Light knew full well that it was just L's form of sulking at being discovered in his manipulative little game.

Light laughed properly at that. "You're an idiot. You must surely have noticed that I could barely stand being in the same _room_ with that simpering chit for even twenty breaths?"

"I discovered as much when I returned to your rooms last night. That is why I am glad she will be leaving Light alone, for as soon as I noticed Light did not find pleasure in her company, I abandoned the plan. I must _repay_ Light, not condemn him to torture." L sniffed.

"Torture it would have been. The Lady may have her charms, but I'm afraid they did not appeal to me in the slightest in comparison with the terrible _annoyance_ that girl provides, noblewoman or not." There was silence for a brief while, before Light ticked over. "Wait, you had a _plan_ for me to marry this girl? Already?"

"Perhaps…" L said evasively.

"And you abandoned your precious plan… wait, did you _hear_ her coming or something? Is _that_ why you didn't move away from me earlier?"

L did not answer. The silence lasted for perhaps several breaths, and Light was about to open his mouth to question L further, before L easily pulled himself from Light's gentle hold, standing and smoothing his clothing on one fluid motion. Light released him with a slight (yet disturbing) reluctance.

Yet another knock was heard at the door, though this one was not followed by a rude entrance.

"Enter." L commanded, apparently unheeding of possible further punishment for again flouting tradition and answering as though he was the master…

'_Hang on…'_ Light thought, narrowing his eyes. Before he could get any further along that line of thought, the door opened, and a familiar man with dark eyes and wavy black hair entered, an eyebrow cocked in apparent acknowledgement of Light's lack of covering on his torso.

"Should not your master have been dressed before you bade me enter?" the man asked in a truly _familiar_ voice… Light frowned, trying to place the man.

"Mika." L greeted, face blank as he ignored the question, voice unusually cold, even by his usual standards.

Memory came rushing back to Light. "Oh, Mika. That's right, I remember. I hadn't recognised you. How do you fare?" Light asked with caution, though it did not show in his question. After all, when he'd met Mika, he had not been playing the part of the Marquis, and it was highly likely that Mika remembered their encounter, which could be potentially disastrous.

"I fare rather well, Light. Or, perhaps it would be more proper to call you Marquis, yes? You never mentioned that you had _that_ particular title."

"You really ought to get to your point 'Mika'." L drawled vacantly, staring at Mika with hard eyes. "I assume you _had_ one?" he asked delicately.

Mika shot an odd look at L, and his charcoal-coloured eyes locked with L's storm-grey orbs. An odd feeling entered the room, and Light felt _sure_ something of importance was being communicated between the two dark men that he didn't understand, and was left out of, an unfamiliar rush of unwarranted jealousy sweeping him.

Mika broke the gaze first, tilting his head ever so slightly back and to the side, and L's cold demeanour recessed into his customary sereneness, though with an odd sense of self-pleasure, like the 'cat-who-got-the-cream'.

"Light-" Mika said, attention sliding back to Light.

"Yes, Mika?" Light replied, rallying his attention to the matter at hand rather than the interesting conundrum of those new and decidedly strange sensations that had been swamping him all morning.

"I fear I have caused you offence." Mika said carefully, studying Light.

Light frowned, but it was L who responded before he could ask what on Earth the other man meant.

"It is _decidedly_ rude to enter a noble's suite before they have eaten, especially without permission, unless you are their personal servant."

Light was _sure_ L shot a Look at Mika, though when he studied L's face closely there was no trace of any such a thing. He opened his mouth to discount this, as L had given permission for him, albeit without asking Light, but again he didn't get the chance.

"Please allow for this humble servant to atone for this grievous offence." Mika intoned in a strangely formal, almost ritualistic voice, eyes barely masking some form of… well, it _couldn't _be desperation.

Could it?

"It is not necessary…" Light began.

"Forgive my interruption Light, but I believe it _is_." L cut him off, vacant look gone, replaced instead with a warning glance. Light raised a brow, but saw no problem with agreeing to the overly dramatic request from Mika.

"If you believe it is… I suppose it would not bother me overmuch to accept…" Light said dubiously. "Though I do not understand why -"

"I humbly thank you, my master." Mika said, sweeping a courtly bow in his direction with definite relief in his voice.

"Do what you think is needed to atone for whatever grievance you believe yourself to have caused me Mika, but for God's sake don't call me your master like that! You serve the Duke, and I am but a foreigner. Marquis is fine, and only in public if you _must _give me my title."

"As you wish. But, forgive this servant but, _what_ do you request I call you in private if not by your proper titles?" Mika asked, puzzlement clearly visible on his face.

"Call him what I do, 'Mika'." L told him mischievously, giving a strangely pixie-like grin.

"And what do _you_ call him, 'Ryuuzaki'?"

"Light. It _is_ his name, is it not?" L said, and Light could practically _see_ L's teasing jab in that.

"You would call your master by his _name_?" Mika said with shock in his face and eyes wide. "The _arrogance_!" he said, though not with condemnation, rather the standard reaction to L- exasperated admiration.

"Oh yes." L said almost happily. "For he is equal to me in all - no, that is far too much - _almost_ all ways." he continued proudly.

"Oh really, almost?" Light said added teasingly with false excitement.

"Almost." confirmed L, his pixie-smile stretching.

Light rolled his eyes, unable to help his lips twitching into a corresponding smile. Mika looked from Light to L, then back to Light, comprehension dawning in his dark brown eyes.

"You are both very… _close_, are you not?" he said knowingly.

L's smile disappeared, his face thoughtful as he looked solemnly to Light. _'You field the question this time.'_ he appeared to say.

"If you are implying that Ryuuzaki and I are… _lovers_, then I am afraid that I must correct your misassumption." Light said carefully. "But, I'd like to think, despite his being my servant, that we are friends." he continued with his normal bright smile.

L's eyes widened ever so slightly, giving away to Light his shock at his announcement, as though he'd announced that the sky was green, though Light had not the foggiest clue _why_.

"Light is sure he considers myself his friend?" L asked slowly.

The seventeen year-old frowned. "Of course." he replied, puzzled. "Why on Earth wouldn't I be?" he asked.

"It is nothing of great consequence…" L started. "It is merely that… Light is quite possibly what one might call my 'first-ever' friend." he explained, a small, secretive smile playing about the corners of the older man's mouth.

"That cannot be true." was Light's automatic response, having always been, quite literally, the 'golden-child' of the village his first thoughts were that the possibility was absurd that someone might have no friends.

"I have known… 'Ryuuzaki' of old, Master, and unless he has changed what he is somehow, it is highly possible that what he says _is_ true."

"Truly?" Light asked sceptically before he remembered the village accusation and realised this to be true. The villagers had _hated_ L with a passionate fear bordering on insanity. "And, just _what_ do you mean by 'what' he is?" he asked, allowing suspicion to taint his voice.

"_For the crime of being a shapeshifting demon, by the name of 'matagot' you are to be burned at the stake 'till dead."_

"Have you not seen the scars he was given simply for existing?" Mika said, answering Light's question with one of his own. "Unless the general attitude to such as he has changed-"

"That is _enough_, Mika."

Mika turned his gaze to L and studied the pale man's features. "You haven't told him, have you?" he accused. "He doesn't know."

"He does not need to know, 'Mika'." L told the other man warningly.

"How can you expect to do your job properly 'Ryuuzaki', if he doesn't know? It is different for my kind; we do not need co-operation, unconscious or otherwise, once accepted. But _you -_"

"_Drop_ this, Mika. I will not warn you again." L ordered, his voice cold and deadly.

"Are you afraid of what Master might think?" Mika countered.

"Would you _both_ stop talking about me as though I am not here?" Light exclaimed irritably, though the two arguing men ignored his outburst and carried on.

"Are you afraid he'll detest you and reject you as the others do?" Mika asked quietly.

L froze, his face turning even whiter than normal. His voice came out tight and barely controlled. "You do _not_ want to continue, 'Mika'. As I said earlier, I do not make false threats, and you would do well to remember mine."

"You are, aren't you?" Mika said, wonder on his face. "You've never cared about anyone's opinion before. What is it that makes Master's opinion special?"

L said nothing, and Light, completely and thoroughly lost, looked warily from Mika to L, perceptive eyes lingering on their dark-ringed counterparts. L's eyes seemed more like those of a wild animal ready to either bolt or fling itself at a tormentor than a human's, and that, and the shifting stance that L had adopted, was what convinced Light to promptly decide to ignore this opportunity to obtain answers in favour of interceding before L did something about Mika's strange, yet apparently discomforting, line of questioning.

"I do not know what either of you are talking about, but _why_ would I ever detest Ryuuzaki?" Light said finally. "He can be beyond irritating, that I'll give you. But he is my friend, despite that. Now, I suggest you both let this conversation lie; Mika, you've hit a nerve."

Mika sent a look to L, and the two dark-haired males exchanged a surprised look which Light was of course, far too dignified to acknowledge, before he matter-of-factly set about dressing himself for breakfast.

* * *

Chapter 5: Done!

Chapter 6: Ready to type!

Thank you all for reading. If you'd like, I enjoy to read reviews. I'm not gonna push you though! (what's the point, you'll review if you want to, and you won't if you don't want to- nothing **I** say is going to change that..)

I hope you all enjoyed! :D

Smile! :D

Ireina


	6. An Unexpected Ally

**Matagot 6 - An Unexpected Ally.**

* * *

Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note. If I did, everything after the Yotsuba arc would not have occured, L and Light would've hooked up two eps after the chain went on and Near, Mello and Matt would've come in in some other fashion (Just because they rock). I do, however own some of the legends attributed with the 'Matagot', (which is a real French myth, who'da thunk it?) and the general AU.

**Warning: AU, Yaoi/Shonen-Ai. If you don't like, please don't read! Rated for later content, possible swearing, definite limes and possible violence. LightxL, possible side pairings to be decided.  
**

**Flames shall be extinguished with great force because it is bush-fire season and I hate bush-fires. Many Australians do.**

Credit goes to my betas, **TsumeLover666** and **Shadow of Egypt **for a truly excellent and job and swift return!

Yoshiluvr

Kyorose

Violet Velvetine

Akito-Aya

_anabel sinclair_

Hime

chibikuro rose-sama

sun-sun kat

Black-Dranzer-1119

SerenaBB

Translucent Darkness

_Ani_

fanofninjawarrior

Thank you all for reviewing! Also thank you to all the people whom placed this on their alerts list (Gosh there's a lot of you!)

Note- There are two words that you may not have encountered-

_geas_- A binding magical 'contract'

_Lawn_- noun, a fine linen or cotton fabric probably from _Laon,_ town in France where made

Hope you all enjoy! :D

Ireina

* * *

"We'll miss breakfast if you do not hurry and dress, Light." L told said teen, with a small smile playing about the corners of his mouth as his… _friend_ raced about the room trying to find a particular undershirt.

"Ryuuzaki, have you seen the white lawn? The one that I usually wear underneath the green tunic?" Light asked him, voice frazzled.

"Things would be much easier for Master if he would allow me to arrange his things." came a familiar voice from the doorway, heavily laced with amusement. "Considering Ryuuzaki does not perform any of his duties."

"Mika! Thank God you're here; help me find my white lawn!"

The charcoal-eyed man shook his head with a small chuckle. "Of course, Master."

"Do not call me that." Light retorted automatically, rummaging through the chest of clothing that had generously been provided by the Duke's brother.

"As you like." Mikami responded, though all three of them knew that he'd be back to 'Master' before the day - no, before the _hour_ was out.

"I do not know why you fret so about your appearance, Light." L told him from his position by the door, which he'd opened before Mikami could knock. "I do not fret about these things, and I am always adequately dressed in time."

"_I_ care about how I come across to others Ryuuzaki. You can afford to look strange if you like, you're the servant. It's me the Duke's courtiers play with."

L frowned. "I do not look that strange, do I?" he asked. "Aside from my colouring?"

Light looked up, puzzled. "And when exactly did you begin to _care_?" The younger male asked, pausing in his search.

L said nothing aloud, although he couldn't help, or understand, the thought that popped into his head at that. _'I believe it was approximately when I realised that __**you**__ might think I look strange.'_

Light's gaze lingered on L for a minute, studying his expression with shrewd eyes before he drew those honey brown orbs from L's face down his body and back to his face, as though appraising him. L shifted his weight uncomfortably, suddenly actually _conscious_ of the unusually loose folds of white that swathed his torso, and the rumpled state of his black leggings.

"Well, for whatever my opinion is worth Ryuuzaki, you look well enough to me at any rate."

L cursed inwardly as he felt a treacherous blush begin to creep across his cheekbones, knowing that the redness would be extremely obvious against his ethereally snow-pale skin. _'Curse me for a thrice-damned fool!'_ he raged inwardly. _'Of all the stupid, __**idiotic**__, and utterly __**foolish**__ things for me to allow to occur!'_ The poor man was not referring to the colour now staining his cheeks.

"Ryuuzaki, are you- _blushing_?" Light asked with guileless innocence, and L cursed again as he felt the redness intensify in response to Light's statement.

"I am doing no such thing - Light must be mistaken." L sniffed, lying blatantly through his teeth.

"You are, Ryuuzaki." Mikami said, throwing in his two-cents worth.

"Be _silent_, Mika"

Light tilted his head to the side. "It makes you look far younger, L. It's rather _cute_." he said matter-of-factly.

L gave him a flat glare that lost the majority of its intensity beside the flaming colour in his cheeks. Making a strange noise almost like a growl low in his throat, he pointed behind Light and Mikami at the chair beside the window. "The white lawn's right there." he said abruptly, before stalking out of the room. He could hear laughing from behind him as he leant against the wall opposite the door.

Since the night when Light had tended his injured back L had avoided being in the same room when Light was only partially clothed (at least, whenever this was possible); though he still would, on occasion, wake beside Light, which thankfully had not been a common occurrence - this place was definitely not a safe one.

Not to mention that that sort of thing was terribly bad for his nerves.

"Ryuuzaki, I need to speak with you." came Mikami's serious voice as both he and a freshly-and-completely dressed Light exited the room, L quashing a sudden wave of hatred for the other dark-haired being for entering the room to see _his_ Light- hang on…

'_By all that's holy, __**that **__sort of thought simply will not do- that horrid creature is helping __**protect**__ Light. And besides- Light is merely an obligation to him. Really, that's all he ought to be to me as well, for is he not the one who chains me?'_

"You go ahead, Light; we will come along to the dining hall in but a minute." L said in quiet assent.

As soon as Light was out of earshot Mikami spoke again.

"You feel more than the ties of bonding, don't you." he said bluntly. L opened his mouth to rebut this, but Mikami cut him off. "I have just this to say to you. If there was not the metaphysical aspect of this whole situation, you and he would fit like string to harp."

"I'm afraid I do not und-"

"But you are what you are, and you cannot change your nature." Mikami continued, heedless of L's weak protest. "I believe it would be impossible for anything good to come out of a union between a creature such as you and a mortal like he, especially considering he is your Master. It would be dangerous for all concerned, and as soon as you are released from these chains you will take off - it is in the nature of your kind. You know this."

"I feel nothing for him, Mikami."

"You of all people should know by now that no matter how often you say something, that does not make it truth, _L._"

"It _is_ truth." L insisted.

"You are lying, and fooling none but yourself and perhaps the boy." Mikami held up his hands in surrender. "I have said what I needed to say, and I will hold my tongue, but you would do well to remember that I am bound to his welfare also. I do not wish to become your enemy."

"I will not harm him, Mikami." L said quietly. "What you fear will not come to pass. I feel _nothing_ for young Light; therefore I cannot hurt him when I am released from this _geas_."

"You will not intend to." Mikami said, studying L's catlike features intently. "But I believe that I am already too late. Your path is chosen - you walk it already, and so does Master. I hope that ruin does not lie at the end of it for either of you."

"Are you not on the same path? He is your master also; your destiny is bound to his."

"Not the same way yours is." With that Mikami left, following the same hall that Light had. He paused without turning. "But that, at least, you already know." he added, before continuing out of L's sight.

L closed his eyes before his hand formed a fist at his side. He opened his eyes, the storm cloud-grey orbs only possessing a slitted iris. "I _know_." The fist tightened and blood began to trickle between his fingers. "Damn you Mikami, I've known since you poisoned him and he lay dying."

--

Light was seated in the hall, the Lady Misa on one side of him, empty seat both on the opposing side and on the other side of his own. He saw Mika enter and take the seat opposite him, and kept throwing glances towards the large arching entry to the hall, becoming slightly worried as L continued to fail to appear. Soon the empty dishes were carried away by the kitchen hands, and L had still not entered.

"Is the Marquis worried about his lover?" Misa whispered discreetly to Light, hiding the concerned question as a flirtatious whisper with a smile and giggle for the benefit of any who happened to be watching.

"Ryuuzaki was to speak with Mika, and the two were to meet me here afterward." Light murmured in response, picking up the game with a seductive smile to match her façade of flirtation.

"Yet Mika returned some time ago, yes? Perhaps the Marquis ought to search for him when he finishes?" A feminine hand trailed itself along his arm. "Misa is sorry about this, but if Misa does not at least _appear_ to flirt with the Marquis…" She trailed off.

"It would be suspicious?"

She gave a genuine smile at that. "That, and Misa's father and uncle would begin to re-negotiate a marriage between Misa and one of the other dukes." she told him, leaning in confidentiality, tone distasteful. "And as all the _young_ unmarried sons hereabouts are third or fourth sons…" She couldn't keep a flash of disgust from manifesting itself momentarily.

"My Lady therefore finds none of the prospects appealing." Light finished her sentence with an unfeigned smile of amusement.

She slapped him playfully on the arm with a matching (although obviously faked to his now-expert eye accustomed to honing in on L's minute expressions) "One might say that." she sighed comically before looking sidelong at Light through her lashes. "If you were not… _otherwise attracted_, Misa _might_ have asked her father to arrange something with the Marquis, if only for a decent conversation. All the other nobles assume Misa is stupid because Misa is a woman. Especially that lecher, the Duke of Nicoise."

"You _do _play the part rather admirably, you must admit." Light told her slyly. "Really, you can't blame him-"

He felt a vicious kick under the table, hiding the pained expression before anyone could catch it, noticing the Lady's sweet smile.

"Misa has no other choice. At least if Misa appears as shallow as expected she is generally left well enough alone." She gave another smile, though the glint in her eyes suggested it was not one of amusement. "Misa can then do as she wishes with the courtiers and they are none the wiser."

'_She is more intelligent than one would at first guess - not at mine or L's level seeing as she is telling me about her games (albeit unspecifically), but she has something there nonetheless. She hides it __**admirably**__ though.' _Light thought, inwardly wincing at the memory of her initial extreme behaviour.

The Lady Misa's smile left her face. "But, back to a matter of more import - oughtn't you to find Ryuuzaki?"

Light nodded agreeance, taking her hand and (sighing inwardly at the utter inanity at such 'mannerly' gestures) laid a tiny, chaste kiss on the back of the soft skin, the Lady using her 'airheaded' giggle; _true_ amusement showing in her blue eyes, presumably at his discomfort;(though _how_ she managed to notice it despite his hiding of it was mystifying)

"Many thanks for your gracious company at this meal, milady." he intoned mock-seriously before rising and leaving the hall.

--

L froze. He had been about to enter the hall amidst the gaggle of other servants coming to clear away the debris of the meal when he'd seen something that (he was fairly certain he knew _why_ it affected him so too) had made him feel cold, and oddly achy about the chest region.

"So it manifests itself as physical pain also." he said softly to himself, emotionless tone not betraying one iota of the strange turmoil the sight of a flirtatious Light had caused.

With that he calmly made an about-face and reversed his direction, continuing in this direction blindly for some length of time.

"Ryuuzaki!" he heard from behind him, though he ignored the call.

"Ryuuzaki!" This time whomever (Oh who was he trying to kid? L knew _exactly_ who it was) had called out caught up to him, grasping his loose sleeve.

"What?" L finally responded curtly, stopping in the middle of the passage, Light nearly running into him.

"Where were you?" Light asked, not releasing L's clothing.

"I am sorry for inconveniencing my master."

Light must have picked up something in his carefully toneless voice (was he _really_ getting that good?) for the next in his sequence of questions was; "Are you angry with me?"

L studied Light's face. The graceful, aristocratic features were arranged in their usual semi-arrogant expression, but the golden-brown eyes…

Light had dropped the shields in them, though consciously or not was somewhat debatable, and a form of wary resigned knowledge was clear in their honey depths.

L sighed, hating the stupid weakness he was about to exhibit. "No Light, I am not angry with you."

Light's eyes lightened, and the teen studied him. "You _are_ upset about something though." he pointed out, curiosity apparent in conjunction with something L had never _at all_ seen directed at him- worry. "What did Mika discuss with you?" Light asked flatly, hold on L's sleeve shifting to his arm, the grip just enough to be there. If L wanted, he could have easily broken that grasp.

"It has no bearing on the current situation Light, and I can assure you I am quite well."

Light raised an eyebrow, silently expressing his beliefs on the subject. "Whatever passed between you and Mika has caused you disturbance Ryuuzaki." That _couldn't _have been a flicker of jealousy in Light's eyes, surely. "To my mind it therefore has _everything_ to do with the current 'situation', as you so quaintly put it." L couldn't prevent his eyes widening almost imperceptibly at the discerning comment. "So please tell me what transpired."

"I'm afraid I cannot." L said finally. "I appreciate Light's concern, but-"

"You know, sometimes I honestly wonder whether or not you still think you're a hermit, Ryuuzaki! You never stop to think about whether or not you've made a person worry, and when you _have_ made someone - specifically myself – worry, you merely dismiss it and continue along your merry little way!"

"I would hardly call myself _merry_."

"I am really sick of your arrogant ways and your utter disregard for all who have the unfortunate luck to actually care about you, Ryuuzaki."

"I am not being careless when I refuse to tell you about a private conversation, Light. It is none of your business what Mika and I choose to discuss when you are absent."

"When it hurts you Ryuuzaki, I will _make_ it my business - and I am doing so now." Light said coldly, shields behind his eyes slamming into place, voice clipped and crisp.

For the second time in so many minutes, L's eyes widened imperceptibly as he noted the sudden change. There was that odd flicker _again_! But, it simply _couldn't_ be jealousy. What on Earth would Light be _jealous_ of, for heaven's sake?

"Light is very persistent." L said softly. "But at this point in time I cannot inform you what was said." _'If ever.'_ he added silently.

"I saved your life… _L_." Light said, purposely pitching his voice low so only L could hear the use of the name. "You call me your friend, do you not? So why is it that I feel almost as though you do not trust me?"

L was silent, allowing his lack of response to answer for him, feeling oddly _bad_ as he noted the expression in Light's eyes.

Light released L's arm, running a hand through his hair with a sigh. "It is because you do not, isn't it. Even with trivialities like this…" Light looked L in the face. "I suppose you have the right of it. You have only known me for perhaps two or three sevendays after all, and before we truly 'met' you were never treated kindly, even a fool can see that. But do you know what I find most odd, Ryuuzaki?" Light asked, the use of L's other pseudonym a familiar distancing technique in this context. "I _still_ can't help but wish that you _could_ trust me."

Again that foreign stabbing sensation lanced through L, who was already ruthlessly crushing the desire to crack and give him the information Light wanted, just to get that hurt out of the boy's voice.

Light continued. "If you're really alright… I suppose I will speak with you later in the day." His voice had become cool and slightly disdainful - Light's 'Marquis' shell was firmly back in place. When had the innocent youth become so adept at hiding his true self?

"Yes, my lord Marquis." L intoned with slight mockery, voice returning to its usual pitch as L's own shell slipped into place. Light inclined his head slightly before following along the passageway. L watched him as he left, memories from not so very long ago stirring at the elegantly graceful movement.

'_Not a good sign…'_ L noted resignedly as warmth spread through him at the rolling of muscles formed from years of toil in the fields as the younger man walked away. _'Not a good sign at __**all**__…'_ he added as not just memories began to stir.

--

Tiredly, Light pushed open the door to the room he had been unofficially sharing with L since the night of L's whipping, a large, green bound tome in his hand. The Lady Misa had decided she wished to show him the library. The odd markings mystified him - they were not the same scripts as those used by the commoners, and no clerics had ever come through such a small village as his, and therefore this noble's script was quite beyond him.

The blonde girl, upon taking notice of his apparent mystification (which he'd momentarily been unable to hide) had appeared to assume his lack of comprehension was due to a 'language barrier' (He'd thanked the Lord that Ryuuzaki had chosen the alias that he did) and had handed him a book apparently at random and told him kindly that he'd '_get better with practice_' and '_wouldn't Ryuuzaki_ _know the scripts of this land?_'

Well, he supposed Ryuuzaki likely _would_ know these scripts - he seemed to know all sorts of things he by all rights shouldn't have. As to whether Light would swallow his pride and actually ask for 'Ryuuzaki's' tutelage? It was as up in the air as whether or not 'Ryuuzaki' would actually descend from on high to _tutor_ him.

He shut the door behind him and, as he turned back to the room, noticed a ball of what looked like fur in the middle of his bed (which L _still_ seemed to manage to find his way into on occasion).

Upon further study he realised that the fur was the trademark black-marked-white that belonged to the cat that he'd named after L. It had curled itself up in a nestlike bundle of haphazardly tugged-into-place blankets and it appeared to have dozed off. Light placed the book he carried carefully onto the window-seat and as quietly as he knew how moved towards the bed, easing himself onto it. He smiled as the animal's only reaction was to draw a paw irritably over its face in a slumbering gesture he'd seen other cats at home do.

Gently he reached out a hand, stroking its paw softly. The cat pulled its paw away from its face, silver eyes opening with a blink. Smile stretching into a grin, Light began to lightly scratch it under the chin at which the cat began to (again, reluctantly) emit sonorous, rumbling purrs.

"This is why I like your company." Light chuckled. "You're completely uncomplicated and you don't play games with me. I know where I stand with you. It's refreshing." It forced its luminescent eyes open to stare at him briefly and Light shifted his movements to the side of its face, just under a black-tipped ear. "Even if I actually _enjoy_ the occasional game, it's exhausting the frequency with which L plays them." Light added as a second thought. He stopped petting the cat as he became lost in thought for a brief minute. The cat nudged his arm with its head, uncurling as it marked his arm, demanding attention from him.

Light came back to himself, looking at the cat with wondering amusement. "You're very affectionate all a-sudden." he remarked. "What's got into you?" he joked. "Maybe I _shouldn't_ have named you after L." He laughed as he picked the cat up, cradling the animal the way one would a human baby. Immediately as though on instinct the cat wrapped its front paws around his arm in an oddly humanlike action with a meow. Light laughed again, gently tugging his arm free in order to stroke its fur. It turned in his arms and used its claws to assist it in climbing up and draping across his shoulders. "You're lucky you're not a fat cat." Light told it with amusement.

There was a rap at the door, and Light groaned before rising, and with the cat still across his shoulders like a living scarf he opened the door.

"Master." greeted Mika.

"Mika." Light said, exhaustion returning in full force. "Is it really all that urgent? Mika?"

Mika had not answered- he was staring at the cat sprawled across Light's shoulders. "What on Earth are you _doing_ up there?" the charcoal-eyed man asked in astonishment.

The cat hissed, rubbing its temple against Light's face, marking him again.

"Mika you're upsetting L."

"_**L**_?!" Mika asked incredulously.

Light made a move as though to shrug, but realised that with a cat on his shoulders it was not perhaps the best idea and thought better of it. "I couldn't think of another name. I should have named him after Ryuuzaki though, that man acts like a cat half the time anyway. And it's a better name than a letter…" he muttered, before he yelped as the cat pricked him with its claws in what seemed like chastisement.

Mika seemed to be torn between laughter and his usual precious seriousness. He soon compromised, allowing himself a small chuckle.

"It's not funny." Light grumbled, glaring comically at the cat on his shoulder.

"If Master says so."

"And would you please cease that nonsense! What did you wish to tell me when you came in here?"

Mika stared at Light soberly. "The King has demanded a second audience. His Majesty has heard of the mysterious Marquis the Duke of Felrawthy recently took under his wing and is anxious to meet him."

"Me?" Light said with some surprise. "Whyever would a King be interested in meeting such as _I_?" he asked, momentarily forgetting his new status as 'noble' in his surprise. It _was_ the King of the realm, after all.

Mika smiled his amusement. "Perhaps, Master, a more apt question would be whyever _wouldn't _His Majesty be?" The cat hissed at him, and Light absently reached up to pat it in an attempt to soothe it.

"What _do_ you mean Mika?"

"When _any_ monarch hears of a person whom is attractive, is a noble and has either the power or charisma to back it up, they are bound to be curious, no?"

"Well yes, but-"

"They are also bound to be _wary_. When they find someone who has even _half_ the intelligence Master has, then it is vitally important that they discover promptly where this person's loyalties lie. Master possesses all of these traits in abundance, I believe." Upon hearing this logical explanational spiel the cat settled itself, relaxing into Light.

"He _can't _think I mean to lead a rebellion, surely?!" Light asked disbelievingly.

"I cannot presume to know the mind of His Majesty." Mika said delicately.

"But you still believe that is what is behind the summons?"

"It is a possibility."

"I have no ties to the Royal House!" Light exclaimed. The cat rubbed his neck-slash-cheek and Light continued. "I am not even of this country!" he added hurriedly.

"There have been foreign nobles placed on thrones in the past, Master. But it is of no matter." Mika said, clapping his hands together in a businesslike fashion. "This time the Lady Misa will be accompanying the procession the whole way and will be formally presented at court to the Queen and her ladies-in-waiting. The Duke and his brother have opened the coffers of Felrawthy to properly outfit the entourage so as to create the correct impression. That will, of course include you, Master. The seamstresses will arrive tomorrow."

"Thank you for informing me of this Mika. I trust you will see that I am informed exactly _when_ they arrive?"

"Of course Master." Mika told Light, performing a bow.

"In that case, if that was all then I will bid you goodnight, and once more, I _wish_ you'd stop calling me that. If you see Ryuuzaki, please send him to me. And _do _try not to say aught more to upset him."

"Upset him? Ryuuzaki?" Mika asked in a taken-aback tone.

"Yes. He was acting _most_ strange this morning, though he refused point-blank to tell me what exactly it was that passed between you to upset him so."

"We merely discussed some-" Mika started confusedly with a frown, before the frown eased and he cut himself off with an odd expression that Light couldn't quite read, despite having had practice reading L's expressions; (Or lack thereof…) "Ah, I see. He did not tell you what I discussed with him then?"

"I believe that is what I just said, Mika." Light said impatiently.

The dark-haired man nodded to himself. "Forgive me master, but some… issues had to be aired, despite their rather… _sensitive_ nature. I believe Ryuuzaki was correct in his decision not to inform you of what was said."

"These issues… were of a personal nature?" Light asked sharply, mind jumping to a conclusion he was surprised to find he did not like _one bit_.

Mika tilted his head to one side, an uncharacteristically secretive smile on his face. "It would not be a misassumption to say so, Master." Mika said, voice soft.

'_No,'_ Light decided with an odd stabbing sensation through his chest that was most definitely _not_ jealousy of any form; _'I do not like this conclusion one bit.'_

Automatically in a comfort-seeking gesture his hand reached up to caress the soft fur of the cat sprawled across his shoulders and in response the cat nuzzled his face worriedly before directing a hiss at Mika who, unbeknownst to a distracted Light, took the opportunity to smirk at the animal.

"It would explain both his state and the refusal to confide what transpired…" Light murmured aloud, voice tired. "If you happen to see him Mika, please remember to inform him that I require his presence."  
"Yes Master."

"How many times must I ask you not to call me that?"

"At least once more, Master."

Light shook his head, giving up on the whole situation entirely. "Good evening, Mika."

"And you." With another bow, Mika left the room.

As the door shut, Mikami's expression transformed into a wickedly gleeful one. "Mischief is not your province alone, _matagot_." he whispered half to himself with a smirk.

* * *

Chaper 6- Done!  
Chapter 7- Still hand-writing at the moment.

Hope you all enjoyed! Review if you'd like! :D

Smile! :D

Ireina


	7. The Other Foreign Noble

**Matagot 7- The Other Foreign Noble**

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Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note. If I did, everything after the Yotsuba arc would not have occured, L and Light would've hooked up two eps after the chain went on and Near, Mello and Matt would've come in in some other fashion (Just because they rock). I do, however own some of the legends attributed with the 'Matagot', (which is a real French myth, who'da thunk it?) and the general AU.

**Warning: AU, Yaoi/Shonen-Ai. If you don't like, please don't read! Rated for later content, possible swearing, definite limes and possible violence. LightxL, possible side pairings to be decided.  
**

**Flames shall be extinguished with great force because it is bush-fire season and I hate bush-fires. Many Australians do.**

Credit goes to my betas, **TsumeLover666** and **Shadow of Egypt **for a truly excellent and job and swift return!

Translucent Darkness

Star Jinin

Black-Dranzer-1119

Violet Velvetine

sun-sun kat

Rosa Mar

Yoshiluvr

Akito-Aya

May or Yesterday

Shadow-L-Chan

Thank you all for your reviews! I'm glad you all seemed to enjoy it that much! xD

Smile! :D  
~Ireina

* * *

Light had removed the cat from around his shoulders in order to focus- (or try to, at least) on the odd symbols in the book before him. They were not the common script he was so accustomed to, so the challenge inherent in attempting to make sense of the alluringly flowing script offered the young man a choice diversion from the discomforting sensation of what couldn't _possibly_ be jealousy of what was _probably _only an innocent and purely _platonic_ relationship between L and Mika (_'that the discussion of which set L out of sorts for such a long time…'_ his treacherous thoughts prodded).

The cat gave a reproachful meow at being put down and ignored and set itself to twine around Light's legs insistently as he sat on one of the few chairs in the room by the candles.

"You're as annoying as L can be when you both want your own way, aren't you?" Light asked the cat with mild irritation. "I suppose you don't like me ignoring you in favour of this scribble, am I right?" The cat responded with an almost happy seeming meow of agreement, continuing to twine. "You _are_ just like L." Light grumbled with a half-hearted smile. The cat was really far too winsome to stay annoyed at as it happily ignored him, continuing its seemingly never-ending circuit. With that, Light extricated the furry creature from around his legs and lifted it up onto his lap, abandoning the book in favour of giving the cat the attention it had demanded (much to its surprise if the yowl of astonishment it gave was any indicator). Light gave a proper laugh at the alarmed cat, stroking it once or twice before impulsively kissing it on the spot directly between its dark ears with an amused grin. "You _did_ ask for it," he pointed out with a wickedly playful grin.

The cat gave him a horrified look that stopped the amusement dead in its tracks at the human-like quality of the expression. It leapt off his lap just before it began to shake uncontrollably. Light reached to touch it, concerned for the smaller creature. Before his fingers could even brush its coat it hissed in what seemed most like pain, slashing claws viciously across his hand, eliciting a surprised yelp from Light. Fast as lightning it bolted for the door, using a forepaw to somehow open the door as it fled.

Light frowned, not really noticing the blood beginning to well up in the furrows the cat's claws had torn in his flesh. "How did you open that door?" he asked aloud. Really, he hoped the cat was alright- it had acted _most_ strange with its odd and sudden mood-swing.

**------------------------**

It hurt. Oh _God_ above, it hurt. The strain of holding himself in that shape despite the all-too-humanising influence of that innocent kiss was almost too much for him to bear. One thought lingered in his not-quite-human mind- if he could just reach the rooms of the dark-haired man whose pungent scent was that of pine-resin, ink and smoke he sensed he would be safe to lose his shape there.

Why, oh **_why_** had he risked discovery to comfort the caramel mortal?

**------------------------**

Mikami looked up from his paperwork warily, the taste and scent of lightning, something unidentifiably sweet and sandalwood, all mixed with the overpowering scent of fear and panic filling his nostrils.

The door suddenly slammed open and shut again as a small bundle of fur raced into the room, its form shaking and wavering even as Mikami stood smoothly and grasped the air either side of the animal's forequarters, pulling up on something invisible to mortal eyes.

The scent of magic changed to an earthier, controlled scent and the quaking cat was gone, and air no-longer filled Mikami's hands.

"What on _Earth_ happened to you? How did _you_ of all people come to lose control in such a dramatic fashion?" the charcoal-brown eyed man asked as he helped the pale man whom had replaced the cat to his feet.

**------------------------**

Light was disturbed from his rather fruitless attempts to decipher the horrid squiggly script in the book the Lady Misa had given him, when there came another knock at the door, this one more tentative than Mika's as though the person knocking was unsure of their potential welcome (or even lack thereof.)

"Mika, if that's you again…" Light announced to the general vicinity with a grim voice, opening the door. "…then I'm going to-" He trailed off as he saw an exhausted-seeming and even… dare he say… _subdued_ L. "L?" he asked, astonishment written clearly across his features. "Quick, get in here right now; lie down, or at least sit…" He grasped L by the upper arms and pulled him into the room, chivvying the older male towards the bed as he spoke. "Do you want something to drink? I have a pitcher of water and a goblet somewhere here-"

"There is no need for that Light- and I _must _insist against this fussing." L said, voice raspy, and to Light it sounded downright _painful_.

"I'm not _fussing_, L." Light retorted crisply. "You merely seem to be ill, and you are my friend, hence I am… _worried_. Perhaps your insomnia is finally catching up to you-"

"After almost twenty-four years it had **_best_** not." L muttered darkly. "I am not ill Light; I do not get ill. I am merely…" L trailed off as though trying to find words that did not incriminate him.

"-Exhausted?" Light asked tartly, arms akimbo, perfect brow raised. L made to stand, before appearing to find that his legs simply _would not_ hold his weight. Light lost his irritated expression, unconsciously exchanging it for one of alarm as he moved forward and caught the surprisingly slender male.

"Perhaps I might be a _little_ weary." L conceded grumpily, colour adorning his cheeks. "Now, I must ask Light to please release me, as I find this position most awkward indeed, charming though Light undoubtedly is… though it is _not_ appealing to one whatsoever, most definitely not _myself_ of course…" Light rolled his eyes with begrudging fondness as he ignored L's request, instead easily pulling L up off the floor, the raven-haired man's arms going around his neck automatically to steady himself as he quietened.

"Do you _always_ babble when you are tired L?" Light asked, annoyed at the suddenly breathy quality of his ordinarily tenor-pitched voice.

"I am not babbling Light, and I am not _tired_." Light again rolled his eyes as he carefully set down his interestingly light burden on the bed. "You can barely hold onto me L, your body is completely exhausted." he told L, though he did not release said man, nor did L release the weak grip on his neck.

L looked away. "Light may possibly be right, but that does not mean I must simply _agree_ with him. Besides, I never denied that my _body _may be exhausted, I merely stated that I, meaning my conscious self, am not tired." Light smiled at L's almost-jest and tightened his arms on impulse around his friend (_'Friend in**deed**.'_ scoffed his annoyingly vocal subconscious) in a brief embrace before he released him, standing easily despite L's light grip.

"What on _Earth_ did Light do _that_ for?" L asked in a shocked and completely mystified tone.

"I am your friend am I not?" Light asked.

"Well yes, Light is, I have already told him this-" L was cut off.

"Friends _occasionally_ will… hug." Light told L somewhat defensively.

"Ah." L nodded sagely. "They do that… _often_?"

"Some do."

"L nodded again. "Ah." he repeated. "Completely at random? Like that?"

"Occasionally…" Light answered guardedly. _'Where is he going with this? It was merely an innocent embrace; it means nothing…'_ he asked himself, the last sentence tacked on for the sake of his own peaceful state of unconsciously self-enforced ignorance. "I did not mean to cause you offence, if such contact bothered you, and I will not do it again. I should have remembered you do not like to be touched."

"There is no need for such a drastic action." L said quickly. "I would request some warning however, the next time Light feels the need to indulge himself in such actions so I am not taken by surprise by these 'normal' gestures."

Light gave his automatically sunny grin. "If you like." L started, staring at Light's hand.  
"Light is bleeding." he said with actual concern on his features. The dark-haired man gently grasped the hand that the cat had earlier injured and looked closer at the injury.

Light looked down at the hand in question clasped between L's slender, pale ones.

"Ah." he said, wondering _why_ on God's green earth did he feel as though his heart was beating abnormally fast? "So I am. It's only a small scratch though, and I'll be quite fine."

"I am sorry." L said hesitantly, dabbing at the four bloody lines etched in Light's hand with a corner of his tunic, heedless of the red now staining the white fabric.

"What _are_ you apologising for? It is not your fault a cat became vexed at me and chose to lash out."

_"For the crime of being a shapeshifting demon, by the name of 'matagot' you are to be burned at the stake 'till dead."_

L was silent, though he continued dabbing at the cuts, despite having already mopped the excess blood away… blood… Something about blood was niggling at him…

Then Light had it! He remembered what it was that had been nagging at his mind that morning when he had awoken with L in his arms, before the Lady Misa had entered and interrupted his train of thought. L had been lying there _on his back_. The back that had been laid open by a whip just the previous evening. While there were only ten stripes, they had been rather deep and Light knew that they would have been agonising to lay on, especially when you considered the down-side of the spreading-out of the wounds to avoid scarring- that they covered the entire back. Yet L had seemed to feel no pain.

Light looked at L with freshly suspicious eyes. _'Best say nothing- at least, not **yet**.'_ he decided, putting the issue from his mind.

"At any rate- L, this script is _most_ unusual- it is not the common script and I have not seen the like of it before. I am finding it most irritating that I cannot read this."

"Light is referring to _this_ script?" L asked, pointing towards the innocent book lying on the table where Light had left it to answer the door.

Light nodded. "Mmhm." he answered, giving a dirty glare to the book in question.

"That is the noble's script." L informed him. "It is more closely derived from Latin than its common counterpart, and has rather a different appearance on paper in addition."

"I _had_ noticed that L, I'm not a simpleton. It looks like complete nonsense to me due mostly due to that trait. I am almost _certain_ I could decipher it if I knew what ciphers those squiggles corresponded to."

"If Light wishes, I could teach him this script and how to both read and write in it." L offered diffidently.

"I had hoped you would be able to actually." Light admitted, not completely above asking for assistance on the _rare_ occasion it was actually required (especially when their entire ruse could eventually hinge on it.) despite his fiercely independent personality.

"Your disguise as a foreigner will only extend to so much after all. I hope that Light is the phenomenal learner I have said he is."

"I believe I shall do well enough." Light said, allowing himself a private smirk. L offered a tentative and somewhat tired-seeming smile in the almost hidden, yet entirely natural form of a tiny quirk of the lips quite unlike his teasing 'pixie' grin.

"Shall be begin then?" he asked.

Light shook his head vigorously. The poor man was almost (metaphorically of course) dead on his feet, for heaven's sake! "Not at the moment. Perhaps when you're not barely conscious teaching would be more effective?"

"I am not barely conscious Light." L protested with a hastily stifled yawn. "But, if it pleases Light to put this endeavour off till morning… You must _not_ let me sleep however. Or at least, not for more than perhaps an hour. Do you understand?" L continued. "-still _far_ too dangerous to sleep as long as I have been… truly out_rageous_ how far my discipline has slipped…" he then added under his breath.

"I beg your pardon L, but I'm afraid I did not hear the latter part of your statement." Light apologised.

"It is not overly important. I must stress however that if I _do_ fall asleep, Light must waken me promptly. An hour is the utmost limit."

"And if _I_ fall asleep?" Light asked with a barely hidden smile.

"That would be unadvisable." L told him seriously. Light merely rolled his eyes at the typically unreasonable, entirely _'L'_ statement.

"Very well then, I shall do my best not to let either of us fall asleep. Does that please his highness?" Light asked archly, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes. But I am afraid that I do not understand your usage of 'his highness', as I am not of royal blood, and therefore it makes no sense for Light to refer to me as such…"

"As I am aware L, I was merely teasing you."

"It was not-" L stifled a yawn. "-terribly amusing Light."

"Do not worry yourself overmuch. Relax yourself; I shall waken you at the appointed time if you do sleep, never fear." Light told him with fond exasperation.

"Very well, Light. Do not forget." With that, L settled back against the pillows atop the bedding, not bothering with any form of covering. He blinked once, twice and his eyelids closed, lashes forming sooty semi-circles on the slightly darkened skin under L's eyes.

Light gave a small and slightly guilty smile like a child stealing a honey-cake from the kitchens. He looked around the room once before carefully he picked up the fresh, neatly folded counterpane left at the end of the bed by one of the Duke's many servants and laid it over the older man. Having done this, Light rose, moving to the candles and lighting them using a taper he lit in the almost-dead fire in the tiny grate in the wall that was currently supposed to be warming the room.

He sighed, returning to the bed, sitting on the edge of it, that horrid excuse for a _book_ in his hand._ 'I may as well continue to try reading this- it cannot hurt surely.'_ he thought, utterly bored. _'Besides, if I sit here it will not matter if I fall asleep.'_ He eyed L with a wary expression. _'Should I waken him in an hour as he asked? He truly ought to sleep longer than an **hour**- the poor man was completely exhausted…'_ The thought trailed off. _'And extra sleep cannot **hurt** him…'_ he rationalised. Nodding his head decisively, he put the issue from his mind and instead continued his fruitless battle to try and read this horrid noble's script.

**------------------------**

Light felt familiar warmth against his body, a comforting rhythmic movement of someone's breathing nudging the other person closer to him every other breath.

"Again, L?" Light murmured as he awoke properly, opening his eyes to a familiarly textured halo of darkness. "Honestly, if I didn't know that he had no social skills to speak of, I might be rather disturbed by his increasing tendency to sleep so close by me." he added to himself. The other male did not appear to hear him and merely moved backwards towards Light's warmth. Light acknowledged mentally that it _was_ unusually cold considering the heat not more than two sevendays ago that day on the road when he'd swum in the cold lake and L had stolen his clothes. He also admitted reluctantly that the extra heat from L's slender frame was not entirely unwelcome. Due to the strange cold snap of course.

Perhaps a minute passed before Light noticed something decidedly odd. He could feel a terribly bizarre _rumbling_ in L's chest through the closes contact between them even despite the undershirts and tunics they had both fallen asleep in. Upon noticing this oddity, before he had the opportunity to wonder just _what_ it was he heard something that merely compounded the bizarreness of the situation. _'What on Earth is that?'_ Light questioned himself with mild curiosity. If he'd thought himself able to move without waking L he would have sat up and actively looked for the source. As it was, he craned his neck to attempt to see what could be making that noise. It sounded… well… almost like a _purring_ noise come to think of it. L shifted in his slumber, now facing Light, who was most surprised to hear the sound intensify as the other man had the au_dacity_ to **_nuzzle_** into his neck! _'Is **he** making that noise?'_ Light forced himself to focus on the mysterious purring noise rather than the warm breath on he neck and the tickling brush of soft black hair against his face. Light strained his ears. _'He **is**- he's damn well **purring** as though he's a **cat**!'_

_"For the crime of being a shapeshifting demon, by the name of 'matagot' you are to be burned at the stake 'till dead."_

Light's eyes narrowed in a frown. _'It's **L**. He's no demon. He's just an odd hermit whom happens to possess strangely,' _(_'endearingly'_ came his subconscious's two cents worth) _'**catlike** traits.'_ Light told himself. _'Besides which, magic is not real. It has no real basis in reality at all.'_

_'Even if he's not a demon, you know he's not quite… **normal**.' _that odd voice that seemed to delight in contradicting him and negating his beloved state/s of denial whispered.

Light remembered the apparent lack of pain on L's behalf in regards to the whip-inflicted wounds that were _supposed_ to be still healing. He looked down at the other man, the thought giving pause to his obstinate denial. Perhaps it was true, and he wasn't quite_ normal_, but… Light's gaze unbeknownst to him softened as he watched the older man's chest rise and fall.

"Whatever he is, he's not malicious." he whispered decisively before he tentatively brushed one of the many wild strands of hair from L's face.

**------------------------**

L partially awoke to a sensation _most_ odd. It seemed that he had once more somehow managed to end up sleeping beside his young master, (whom must have allowed L to fall asleep before falling asleep himself) yet that was not the source of the strange and new sensation tingling along his nerve-endings. He felt a tantalisingly delicate touch caress his hair from his face and felt the automatic response of his kind intensify in volume and was just able to bite back an accompanying, more _mortal_ sounding response.

"Li...Light..." he mumbled as his body pressed itself closer to Light's mutinously despite his mind's knowing better than to do such a thing... "Don't _do_ that..."

"You're awake?" Light asked, his tenor voice carefully neutral, and L felt the caressing motion slop as Light's hand froze on his hair. Despite physical exhaustion, L still had just enough of his phenomenally intelligent mind awake enough to be still and feign true sleep. "L?" He felt Light move his head. _'Most likely checking to see that I am truly asleep.'_ he decided. Soon the younger male settled back against the bed almost immediately.

L knew he really should move- and sooner would definitely be rather wiser than later. But Light really was rather comfortable, and it would be a shame to move. Besides which, Mikami was not due till rather later, was he not?

"He must talk in his sleep. Perhaps that insomnia of his has finally caught up with him after all." he heard Light murmur. Soon the younger male's breathing evened out into the steady rhythm of sleep and, soothed by the constant rise and fall, L's sleep-addled mind sunk gratefully back into the quiet darkness of slumber, despite the vague yet insistent nagging of his subconscious about... something...

**------------------------**

"Master? Master, wake up please, the seamstresses have arrived and are ready to begin. Ryuuzaki, you are also needed."

"Mi...ka?" Light asked groggily, stirring and blinking sleep-filled gold-brown eyes at the dark-haired servant.

"Yes, Master it is I and it is time for you to dress. Ryuuzaki, I realise you must be..." Mika paused, appearing to search for an appropriate word. "... _comfortable_, but you really must rise and attend to your master."

Light looked down to realise something odd. Not the fact that L was there, no that had begun to occur with increasing ofteness. It was that at some point during the night he and L had switched places. Ordinarily (and who would ever have thought he'd say _that_ about _this_ type of situation- honestly, sharing a bed with another _man_? Light shuddered at what the travelling clerics would have had to say about _that_.) it would be L cradled against _him_, but at present it was _L's_ slender white-clad arms holding _him_, Light's cheek resting against the older man's graceful neck.

"Ryuuzaki..." Light murmured. "Let me up."

"Come now, Ryuuzaki, release Master." Mika added his request to that of Light. "He has important business to attend to." He placed a hand on the arm that was wrapped about Light's chest. L's eyes shot open, rings of mercury around small, practically slitted pupils that were a far cry from the almost completely dilated pupils he'd had when Light had first met him. He stared with unnerving accuracy at the hand on his arm.

"Remove your hand." he said, his voice eerily devoid of inflection, even for him. Mika complied, stepping back from the pair, apparently unbothered by L's strange manner. Light turned instinctively to face L, and those eyes, as unnaturally silver as his own were gold stared impassively back at him. "I apologise Light, this was quite unintentional." L told him as he released his grasp, waiting courteously for Light to sit up.

"It is fine, Ryuuzaki. I do not mind." Light reassured him almost automatically, slightly surprised to find this to be true as he sat up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes with a soft yawn.

"Quickly, quickly Master." Mika said, chivvying Light off the bed and over to the chest which contained fresh clothing. "After all, it is _most _terrible manners to keep anyone, much less a **_woman_** of all things waiting."

"Yes, yes Mika, I'm moving as swiftly as I can." Light complained good-naturedly.

**------------------------**

Light sat in the stifling heat of both his layered 'courtly' clothing, and the horrid rocking contraption that he'd ridden in the first time he'd entered Felrawthy with Ryuuzaki (apparently named a 'carriage') with the Lady Misa beside him her father, Mika and 'Ryuuzaki' opposite the pair.

He heard the driver call out "Ho, the Marquis d'Keira from lands distant and the emissary from the Duke of Felrawthy, his Grace's brother Seifin and his heiress the Lady Misa of Felrawthy arrived to greet His Most Exalted Majesty." _'**Finally**.'_ Light thought, resisting the urge to roll his eyes at the dramatics. _'Hurry up so that we might get out of this damned thing.' _

He felt the carriage come to a halt and a liveried footman opened the door.

"My Lady Misa." the footman said, assisting the aforementioned Lady, whom was resplendent in the blue-edged white finery sewn with seed pearls; (the colours of the Duke it seemed were these two, he'd discovered when Misa had complained to him of the complete idiocy of wearing white, and 'Why couldn't Misa merely wear blue if she _must_ wear her uncle's colours?'.)

"My Lord." The older, somewhat portly man also in similar colours exited with yet more assistance.

Finally it was Light's turn. "My lord Marquis." Light accepted the hand offered graciously and unfolded himself from the seat, exiting the carriage.

The colours Light wore were a far cry from the pale and delicate colours that the other two nobles wore. Vibrant crimson and gold brought out matching hues in his hair and eyes, drawing attention to the autumnal beauty that he possessed. The silken clothing fit him as though he was born to such finery. Every inch the vibrant foreign noble, Light- seventeen summer old son of a farmer - raised his head and stepped into the courtyard of the King, fully in character as the honoured Marquis d'Keira.

As the three aristocrats entered the halls proper, the customary flock of servants following them: - Ryuuzaki, Mika and a favoured handmaiden of the Lady named Naomi following close on their heels, Mika and Naomi chatting in a swift, quiet flow of amicable seeming conversation.

Light heard (and half-wondered if any save himself and Ryuuzaki heard- not one of the other two reacted if they had) other courtiers whom seemed to be semi-permanent fixtures of Court make several remarks, terribly cutting things about the family of the Duke, barbs about the out-dated styles they were wearing and many other things that made Light surprised to hear such cruelty from those whom were supposed to be the 'cream-of-society'. (Imagine his surprise when he realised that the only remarks he heard about himself- the Marquis - were to actually _complement_ him and what they'd dubbed his 'golden-good-looks'.)

Light suddenly vaguely caught a stray conversation and paused, sending a swift and sharp glance L's way.

"Such _odd_ eyes!" exclaimed a dark-haired woman in a green silk gown to her red-haired neighbour.

"Yes, but they're _just_ like those of the little darling who attends that other foreigner," the red-head answered, smoothing her blue gown and eyeing the entourage with a hunter's eye.

"You mean that quiet little thing with the white hair?" the dark-haired woman questioned, tilting her head to the side.

"Yes, attends that _gorgeous_ blond. Don't you think that he looks much akin to that black-haired servant?"

"Do you think they might possibly _be_ kin?" The dark-haired woman tapped her chin thoughtfully as she asked this question.

"Don't be a goose, the blonde Lord is apparently from someplace cold, where it snows all the time!" scoffed the red-head, dismissing the idea. "Can you _imagine_ the Marquis living somewhere like that? No, he's a warm kind of beauty the Marquis, with that sun-kissed skin and gold eyes." (Here Light distantly heard a blonde woman murmur "I liked the cold beauty fine enough, myself.")

"You think so?"

"Dear I _know_ so. But you're right- 'tis odd that the white child has such similar traits to that raven."

"_He's _quite pretty himself, isn't he?" the dark-haired woman murmured appreciatively, eyeing L hungrily and Light felt a spark of anger kindle for reasons unbeknownst to him. How _dare_ she look at L as though he were a choice piece of meat!

"Oh yes, he is quite _definitely _a pretty one- such a complement to the Marquis- the moon to his sun you might say. But one would do better to aim to win the Marquis. After all, if you marry _him_… Well then, as the Lady of the house you'd be able to have _both_, wouldn't you?" the red-head smiled deviously.

Light was _quite_ unable to hide the look of distaste that settled itself firmly onto his features at that. As if he'd even look _twice_ at any of these vultures- none of them were great beauties- Misa, as odd as she could act was a far prettier woman than any of them. And 'Ryuuzaki' _definitely_ would not look even once at them either…

Would he? Light didn't _think_ it would be terribly difficult for him to seduce any of these… women. They seemed attracted enough, after all…

Light's expression morphed from his distasteful one to a contemplative frown as he attempted to look at L the way one of those _horrid_ vultures appeared to.

L's hair was dark and thick, with that oddly enthralling trait of absorbing and refracting light and was luxuriantly soft. His skin, while indeed pale seemed almost to glow in stark contrast with the dark sable of his hair and was just as soft as the dark locks. With his slender stature (despite his customary hunched state) he appeared ethereal, almost fey, and the almost slitted pupils of his (finally almost normal) eyes along with the silvery colour they possessed did nothing to discourage that image. Despite all that, there was absolutely _nothing_ feminine about him- there was a very definitely masculine strength to those deceptively delicate limbs- a fact Light found incongruously pleasing… His frown deepened. When had objective observations turned to appreciative ogling? L's face turned to look at him as though sensing Light's intent gaze. A dark brow arched a tiny fraction and Light noticed a slight tinge of pink grace L's prominent cheekbones. _'Perhaps he heard those… **ladies** as well.'_ Light thought, feeling a matching pinkness begin to rise on his own cheeks at being caught staring in what must have seemed like he was performing an appraisal of a possible lover such as a young village girl might have… _'Oh no!' _Light thought frantically as the colour felt like it was intensifying at the thought.

L moved toward Light at an easy, somewhat graceful gait, straightening to his full height, slightly more than Light's own. Light was momentarily distracted in surprise- this time by both L's apparent height, (_'Why didn't I notice that earlier?'_ he asked himself silently._ 'Because it wasn't important before.' _his irritating subconscious replied gleefully.) and by the sudden swiftness of his own breathing as the other man came closer, examining his face.

"What is wrong, Light? Are you not well?" L asked, his breath tickling Light's ear as he leaned in to whisper directly into it, apparently heedless of the surprised giggles from what appeared to be ladies-in-waiting.

"I am quite fine, Ryuuzaki." Light replied, proud of his newly-discovered ability to keep his voice as quiet and steady as L's, despite the sudden difficulty breathing posed. _'Perhaps I am coming down with something again.'_ Light thought, convincing himself this must be so.

"Light is lying to me." L said, once more in a low-pitched whisper. "But perhaps I shall make him tell me true later. It seems our exchange has attracted a somewhat _interesting_ audience."

While Light managed to keep his expression serenely unaffected, he could not quite stop a shiver at the warmth of L's breath as he spoke. L moved back, shoulders slumping back into the hunch that made Light wince automatically as he followed L's pointed gaze toward another man.

This one was also different to the painted noblemen of court- his hair was a wheaten gold with the very pale skin Light supposed would be common in a place where it snowed a great deal, with extraordinary eyes of a cold blue that evoked images of spires of soaring ice. He was dressed finely in black with slashes of white along his tunic hidden along certain folds that artfully caught the eye as he moved along. The pale man sent what appeared almost to be a mischievous _wink_, quite at odds with his serious-seeming demeanour at Light and L.

What drew Light's attention more than the oddities in his manner and colouring was the unusual-styled silver cross that rested in centre of his chest.

"That's the other foreign noble? The icy beauty?" Light heard a younger brunette in pink silk whom had thus far been silent ask the red-haired woman, who nodded with a salacious gaze at the man in question.

"Oh yes, that's him all right- the Lord Mihael of the Northern Wastes."

* * *

Chapter 7: Done!

Chapter 8: Being Typed!

I hope you all enjoyed this, and if you like, leave a review!

Smile! :D  
~Ireina


	8. Near

**Matagot 8- Near**

* * *

Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note. If I did, everything after the Yotsuba arc would not have occured, L and Light would've hooked up two eps after the chain went on and Near, Mello and Matt would've come in in some other fashion (Just because they rock). I do, however own some of the legends attributed with the 'Matagot', (which is a real French myth, who'da thunk it?) and the general AU.

**Warning: AU, Yaoi/Shonen-Ai. If you don't like, please don't read! Rated for later content, possible swearing, definite limes and possible violence. LightxL, possible side pairings to be decided.  
**

**Flames shall be extinguished with great force because it is bush-fire season and I hate bush-fires. Many Australians do.**

Credit goes to my beta for this chapter, **Shadow of Egypt **for a truly excellent and job and swift return! **TsumeLover666** was terribly busy with her college applications and was unable to assist with this chapter. Good luck, Tsume!!

Thanks go to the following reviewers!!

**Black-Dranzer-1119**

**_RITSUKA_**

**C Elise**

**chibikuro rose-sama**

**Violet Velvetine**

**Akito-Aya**

**shinimoeru**

**Star Jinin**

**_Neko_**

**_..._**

**Shadow-L-Chan**

**Believe Bridesmaid **(Drive-by penname love!)

**ButterflyOnna77 **

**May or Yesterday**

**Melodic Masterpiece**

**Translucent Darkness**

**sun-sun kat**

**MANIC-DEMON**

**xxlostdreamerxz**

Much love to all of you, and I'm terribly sorry I didn't update sooner. I'm pleased to announce my acceptance into University- I'll be studying a Bachelor of Science, majoring in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology!!

Anyway, please enjoy!! :D

Smile!!

~Ireina

*Edit for later chapter

(1)- A solar is a room that is very open and was used by ladies of quality for embroidery, weaving and general socialising.

* * *

"The ladies of the court - including the handmaidens - are in the midst of debate." Naomi told Mikami, a delicate pink blush apparent along her cheek-bones as she pretended to study one of the exquisite wall hangings that adorned the unusually quiet hall in which they walked, a dark-haired ethereally slender male alongside the two.

"They are, are they?" Mikami asked, with amusement colouring his tone. "About what, dear girl?"

"W-well, you see it's about, well, the lords d'Keira and Mihael. And…"

"And what?" Mikami asked, fiercely repressing his mirth.

"And, I believe that the Marquis d'Keira's servant Ryuuzaki recently became a part of the debate also."

"And not Lord Mihael's attendant?" L asked, ignoring Mikami's amusement with dignity.

"Oh no, it's not that sort of debate - the dear boy can't be more than twelve, not quite yet a man…" She trailed off embarrassedly, face red.

Mikami took pity on her and gave up their fun. "Ah, so it is one of _those_ debates, is it?" Naomi nodded, the redness on her face now approaching tomato in hue. "About half the other ladies of the court believe the Lord Mihael to be the more attractive, and the rest are… well, _divided_ one might say…"

"Divided how?" L asked, and the oddest thing- amusement entered his face.

"Divided between my lord Marquis and…."

"Ryuuzaki?" Mikami finished for her when she trailed off, unable to meet L's darkly vacant eyes.

"Well, not just Ryuuzaki by himself…" she answered hesitantly, guilt plain to read on her mildly pretty face.

Mikami nodded knowingly. "They saw my Master's reaction to Ryuuzaki did they not?" he asked, allowing a faint smile to be a visible sign of his mirth.

"What reaction to me?" L asked sharply, apparently having been oblivious to Light's semi-obvious response when he had invaded the younger man's space and whispered in his ear.

"Th…they did notice it. With respect, every female who could see them noticed it."

"What reaction?!" L repeated.

"If you failed to notice, L, then you are an oblivious fool." Mikami laughed. "It's quite amusing really how little you notice when it comes to the boy. Especially when one considers your normal levels of observation."

"Light _was_ acting odd, but that was not due to myself - it was because he overheard the conversation between those two ladies of the court-" L mused aloud. Mikami laughed again upon hearing this, though harder than he had before.

"And _this _is the great L," he chuckled.

"L?" Naomi asked, comprehension dawning on her face. "I've corresponded with someone called L."  
"You have?" Mikami asked, astonishment sobering him up.

"Yes, I had a letter requesting information on important matters regarding high treason."

"Your position as a semi-affluent daughter of a minor noble gave you a uniquely useful information pool." L said dismissively.

"What need did you have to seek information from a mortal Lady?"

"As I have mentioned, it was of no consequence."  
"I heard that one of you went rogue." Mikami probed.

"One did." L said in a much clipped tone. "My half-brother."

"You have a brother?"

"Had. He was drawing far too much attention to our community due to the fashion in which he killed. He was actually targeting my village at the time, and one of the villagers had already disappeared." L corrected tersely.

"And how long ago was this? None of my kind have heard of such matters," Mikami asked, "and yet you speak of it as though it happened just yesterday."

L's dark, fathomless eyes locked onto Mikami's, causing a shiver in the brown-eyed man despite long familiarity with the other male.

"I was eighteen when I caught my brother. His target was a child- a boy. He had only just seen eleven summers, and was one of the youngest and brightest souls of that whole village." L said quietly, voice devoid of any emotion. "While _he_ could not use his abilities for aught but shifting, he did have the odd ability to _partially_ shift and… he liked to use his claws rather than knives-"

"Dear God, for _what_?" Mikami asked in horror.

"He would take his victim's eyes before he killed them. I have reason to believe I know what he did with the removed eyes, despite my best hopes of being incorrect."

"He _hadn't-_"

"I caught up to him when he had his claws at the terrified child's eyes. He was about to take them anyway, despite knowing I had found him."

"What happened then?" Mikami asked softly.

"I attacked and successfully killed him of course. The child had to have its memory erased by one of my acquaintances." L said with no inflection, voice perfectly matter-of-fact despite admitting to the slaying of his own half-brother.

"Is that why you have so many sc-"

"Not all are owed to him, but at least several are." L interrupted, face vacant and blank.

"I do not understand your conversation one whit." Naomi said in a measured, careful voice. "And I have enough tact not to ask. There is one thing that I would ask though." she continued. "L…?" Naomi began. "How did you come to be with the Marquis?" she asked cannily. "The messenger carrying the letter I received came from some obscure village in the countryside."

"The Marquis saved my life. I am bound to repay that debt." L told her calmly, sidestepping her question with ease of practice.

There was a knock at the door, and upon Mikami's consent, a servant wearing the King's livery entered the room.

"His Majesty wishes for the Duke's proxy and our esteemed visitor the Marquis d'Keira to attend His Majesty in court after the noon-time meal. It is to be a formal audience- the Lady Misa will be greeting His Majesty's sister, the Princess Linda for the noon meal in her solar(1) very shortly. His Majesty will be expectantly awaiting their presence." With his message successfully delivered to the visitor's entourage, the servant left with a bow.

"Oh my, I'd best find milady!" Naomi exclaimed. "That silly chit takes so long to dress; she can never decide just what to wear!" The woman hurried from the room and left Mikami and L alone in the chamber.

"What was the child's name?" Mikami asked L softly.

"You had best find Lord Seifin and attend him. I shall attend Light." L said thoughtfully, deftly avoiding the question.

"Was it Master that he'd taken?" Mikami persisted. "Because perhaps that would explain his need to rescue you- some form of memory might have lingered and…"

"_Enough_ Mikami. Hurry and find the Lord."

Mikami shook his head. "If you wish to evade the question and its underlying issue I'll not stop you." With that the charcoal-eyed man left.

L gave a sigh, shoving the matter from his mind before he also left, in search of Light.

---------------

"Light," said male heard from behind him. The young man whirled around from the window, somewhat embarrassed at having been caught staring out the window like some whimsical, moonstruck idiot.

"Ah… L. Hello." Light answered, his voice somewhat nervous.

"Would Light care to tell me why he seemed out of sorts in the entry-way? Perhaps even the truth this time?" L asked, eyes focused intently on Light.

"Did you not hear the conversation those… those _vultures_ were having?" Light asked, voice steady and incredulous despite the return of redness to his cheeks.

"Vultures… I heard many conversations between many such nobles that would suit that name. Which one could Light be referring to…?" L mused.

"You know which one I am referring to L, stop playing about." Light snapped.

"The one in which they debated about which of us was the more desirable? 'Vultures' is an insultingly apt name by the by."

"More specifically, _L_, the one in which that red-haired… _creature_ implied that to wed the Marquis would mean taking both the 'golden noble' and his 'dark toy' to their bed!" Light exclaimed, lying partially (For though this was indeed something which pricked at his pride, raising anger and indignance at their assumption that _they_ could order _L_ to do anything, much less join in any bedplay, it was not quite the source of his odd behaviour.)

"I would infer that Light is more angry than embarrassed at such a thing." L answered cannily. "'Dark toy' in_deed_." he added with disdain. "It is truly an insult to imply I am anyone's _plaything_."

In an attempt to distract L, Light suddenly asked; "Why were you searching me out at any rate, L? Did you need me for something?"

"_Must_ I have a reason to speak with my friend? Such an _odd_ concept." L mused.

"You have reasons for _everything_ that you do."

L's gaze suddenly focused sharply on Light, losing their slightly playful gleam. "That is generally true," he conceded warily.

"So?" Light encouraged.

L gave a comical sigh, the playful gleam returning to his silver eyes. "Light is right, I _did_ have a reason to search Light out."

Light waited patiently for perhaps a minute before realising L was playing around. Again.

"This reason… is it particularly… _important_ at all?"

"Well yes, it is rather important I believe."

Another pause as Light waited for L to elaborate, raising an eyebrow and crossing his arms in mild annoyance.

L gave a sigh. "Light is _no_ fun whatsoever. The King has ordered that the emissary from the Duke as well as the Marquis d'Keira attend him at Court this afternoon."

Light was so shocked his arms dropped back to his sides and he completely forgot about his irritation at L's silly game. Hiding his shock behind a mask of calm, Light asked; "I beg your pardon, L?" Surely he hadn't been summoned so soon…

"To make it simple, I am here in order to assist Light in preparing for an afternoon audience with the King."

"The King?"

"I believe that there is only one 'His Majesty' at a time, Light."

Light cursed, using several colourful phrases he seemed to have absorbed from many places along their shared journey.

L watched this interesting display of… skill calmly until Light seemed to be finished.

"If Light has finished…?"

Light closed his eyes briefly before opening them determinedly. "I'm finished. Let us hurry, we have precious little time." Light began to undo the tiny clasps holding his crimson tunic in place, this particular style the seamstresses had chosen for his travel to the King's court being a fairly easily undone front-clasping affair, each of the tiny wooden clasps subtly carved with designs of foxes which had not previously been visible in the absurdly bright morning light.

"But L-?"

L had turned away to face the door. "Yes, Light?" he replied, voice sounding distinctly odd to Light's (by now) L-attuned ears.

"You… _are_ sure that you know what you need to do? I can handle a great deal of this myself after all, and ordinarily you allow Mika to assist me and-" Light continued swiftly as he carefully folded and laid aside the beautiful tunic.

"Cease your babbling, Light, I am not an incompetent. It is not terribly difficult to assist one with dressing."

"Then, do forgive me but _why_ are you staring at the door?" Light asked hesitantly, hands pausing at their task of removing his undershirt. "It's just… you can't really assist me… if you won't even look at me L."

L did not reply, and Light repeated the name again. With a shrug, Light turned slightly to the side as he carefully removed the gold-bronze undershirt. The older man turned slowly and, as though they were the metal they so resembled and Light a magnet L's eyes seemed to be automatically drawn to the younger male, begrudgingly appreciative of the slimly muscled torso currently revealed to his gaze.

Light shifted under that suddenly far from dispassionate gaze, feeling a wave of warmth rush over him, as well as a strange, though somewhat familiar feeling stirring somewhere in the region of his belly. And- _when _exactly had L gotten so close?

---------

He could smell Light's familiar scent of sunshine and warm caramel with the customary clean smell of soap, but… it was _intoxicatingly _strong. There was an alluring spike of some form of musky scent as he drew closer to the source of this enthralling scent.

"-… _L_?!" Light repeated the man's name for the third time in as many minutes, somehow managing to make the single letter sound breathless and mildly panicked at the same time. L hummed comfortingly, straightening and moving his face up further to draw in the scent of Light's skin. "_What_ are you doing?" Light asked frantically.

"Light has a different… hmm… oh that _is_ interesting… a different… smell at present." L murmured vaguely by way of explanation.

"Different _smell_?!"

"Hmm… yess…" L breathed, stretching a white hand up and grasping a handful of gold-brown hair, leaning in and automatically pressing it to his face. "It is really _most_… beguiling…" he informed the younger man, the sweet scent clouding his better judgement. "And yet I cannot identify _where_…" Here he released the handful of silky caramel hair and began to move his face along Light's jawbone, hovering _just_ above the skin. "…or even _what_ it is… except that it is coming from _you_, Light."

By this time Light had completely frozen, and L had become _quite_ sure that the other was holding his breath. Why though, L hadn't the faintest clue. He wasn't even touching the other male, and really, even if he had it wouldn't have made the slightest bit of difference. How could it after all? L was far too fey to be considered attractive, and even had that not been so, Light was not a lover of men… _'Since when is that a factor of importance?' _L wondered. _'Really, I must leash __**those**_ _particular thoughts more efficiently.'_ he thought ruefully. But… Light _had_ frozen… And that _was_ an intriguing idea…

He rolled his eyes up to Light's face and noted with interest the half-lidded eyes and slightly parted lips. _'Hm.'_ Upon noticing that, the dark-haired man honed his sharp hearing in on Light's breathing on a hunch. _'Odd, it appears almost to be accelerated…'_ He laid a palm on Light's bare chest and focused on the beating rhythm of the organ that kept him alive. _'Unusually fast…'_ he noted and gave a faint smile as the rhythm sped up even further as he allowed his hand to linger. "Perhaps…" he murmured aloud, mind accelerating forward, leaping from possibility to possibility, and unconsciously seeking possible futures with a clarity he had not seen since he'd met the boy.

"Perhaps w…_what_, L?" Light said, the words sounding somewhat choked.

L tilted his head forward, covering his eyes with his fringe, in an unconscious shielding technique despite the close proximity meaning Light would not be able to attempt to read him anyway.

"Perhaps I was wrong about Light… and… perhaps… Mika was right." L said softly, more to himself than to Light, though he did not remove his hand.

"About what?" Light asked, and L saw through the curtain of his hair as Light fully closed his eyes and he heard the grind as the other gritted his teeth.

"It… is nothing." L sighed, reluctantly lifting his hand with a heavy heart. Mika was right- and, for nearly the first time L had been wrong. _'Why is it that the first time Mika happens to be right, it is about this?'_

Light's eyes snapped open suddenly, and that odd hint of red tinted their brown-gold hue.

"A _lie_."

L frowned. That musk hung heavy in the air now, and neither Light's heart nor his breathing appeared to have slowed.

"I have not lied to Light." Oh he'd avoided and twisted the truth so it really would have been more honest just to straight out _lie_, but he had yet to actually tell a falsehood to his young master.

"Oh yes you have." Light said oddly.

"Light?" L asked cautiously. "What is wrong?" Light drew closer and L began to feel a prick of nervousness. "What is Light doing?"

"You… may wish to check your eyes, L." Light warned softly, voice oddly husky.

"Why would I wish to do that?" L enquired, puzzled at the peculiar warning. Light moved closer, and L started to slowly shift his weight from side-to-side self-consciously. A slender gold-tinted hand laid itself on L's cheek, tilting his face up, forcing him to look directly at Light, whom was studying L's eyes with his own.

"They…" Light cleared his throat, the red gleam dissipating from his eyes as though it had never been there, a delicate shade of red appearing on his cheekbones as though to replace it. "Are…"

"Are _what_, Light?" L asked, feeling a matching colour rising on his own face as the two unconsciously drew closer together. Their bodies were almost touching when Light appeared to shake himself.

"They are 'showing' too much, you might say." Light told him, dropping his hand and stepping backwards out of L's space, face cool and collected, not betraying any ounce of the somewhat embarrassed young man from earlier. _'Even his heartbeat and breathing are returning to normal.' _L noted, forcing detachment.

"Ah." he said neutrally. "Let us finish these preparations with haste. And… henceforth I think it best if I ensure that it is Mika and not I whom assists Light in dressing in the future." he continued quietly.

"I suppose that would perhaps be best." Light assented with… that _couldn't_ be reluctance.

Could it?

----------

Light's mind was still in turmoil - that heat as L's face moved along his skin - the other male hadn't even touched him, yet Light had still felt it down to his toes, and that feeling of those slender fingers twined in his hair and the way the older man's palm had felt against his uncovered flesh… God, even _now_ his face felt flushed and his body began to respond just at the _memory_!

But- those slitted eyes had been _glowing_! Glowing! And the way L had commented about his scent… _'No normal person comments about someone's scent- at least not unless it is malodorous, but L seemed to think the complete __**opposite**__!'_ Light thought as he stood outside the entrance to the King's audience hall with the Duke's brother, the both of them in variations of the same colours (though Light had traded white leggings for black, which contrasted beautifully with the crimson of his doublet) each had worn earlier, though where their clothes had certainly been fine _before_, now they were of even _higher_ quality, and small jewels of the appropriate colour had been sewn onto the fabric here and there, catching the light - tiny rubies for Light and sapphires for Seifin, the Duke's brother. Seifin appeared to notice Light's turmoil, for he smiled reassuringly at Light.

"Don't worry Marquis; I'll be called up first!" Light managed a weak smile in response, and the heralds called out into the hall;

"Announcing the emissary of the Duke of Felrawthy, his younger brother- the Lord Seifin."

Said man gave what Light thought was supposed to be an encouraging smile, before re-settling a package he'd balanced on his hip like a woman might a basket of washing.

'_What is that? I didn't notice that before- I suppose I was still distracted…'_

"You'll be next now, Marquis! Don't be nervous, you'll do splendidly!" Seifin said kindly before squaring his shoulders and entering the audience hall.

"Why was he carrying a package?" Light asked himself aloud, gratefully latching onto the distraction from his despairing acknowledgement.

That blond youth from before seemed to appear from almost nowhere, again in black, slashed to reveal the bold white of his undershirt, the black doublet made of what appeared to be velvet sewn with tiny, dark beads of what Light supposed were ebony and diamonds.

"Did no-one inform you of correct protocol for this Court, Marquis?" the blond asked in a clear, softly accented voice.

"Unfortunately, no. I am afraid we have not been formally introduced. I am Light, the Marquis d'Keira."

"I am Mihael, Lord of the Northern Wastes." the other replied, inclining his perfectly coiffed head with a tone of grave amusement. "And as for the package- it is customary to present the King of this land with a gift at your first audience during a stay."

"If that is so, Lord Mihael, then why are _you_ here? Have you not already met with the King?"

"That I have, and God almighty, _don't_ call me that. Mihael is quite sufficient- I believe we share a similar status, no?" Mihael asked rhetorically, making a face somewhat childishly. "And as for _why_, well, His Majesty often enjoys my company- apparently I'm a 'breath of fresh air compared to the bores that dog my court.' According to His Majesty of course, the other painted nobles of said court have a different outlook on myself," chuckled the blond mirthfully.

Light gave a weak smile, not quite sure how to deal with the odd noble. "I was unaware of that particular custom - I have naught to give His Majesty! What _am_ I to do?"

Mihael gave him a wink, as though sharing a secret joke between the two. "Oh, I wouldn't worry. After all, ones like my servant and yours are quick off the mark. Your Ryuuzaki will think of something, I'll warrant." The herald announced Light, and Mihael grinned widely, the expression making him seem less coldly distant and more Light's age. He stepped forward, forcibly swivelled Light around despite his protest and said "Off you go now," wickedly, and pushed Light through the now open large doorway.

Swiftly recovering, Light began to gracefully make his way to the raised dais, cursing the Lord of the Northern Wastes mentally as he did.

---------

A white cat, marked with black made its way into the waiting chamber which Light had just left. In its mouth it carried a golden ribbon, and in front of it, it pushed a tiny rectangular package with a forepaw. Mihael noticed this, blue eyes sharp as they followed the cat's progress towards him.

"Cutting things a bit fine, aren't you?" he asked it. "Or were you _aiming_ for a dramatic entrance?" It hissed irritably at him, pointedly dropping the ribbon on his black-booted feet. "All right, I'll help you then." he said with a sigh, picking up the package and the ribbon, carefully binding the package around the animal's neck with a bow.

"Greetings Your Exalted Majesty. I am most humbled to be in your presence, however I am afraid that I must beg clemency as, due to my foreign status I was unaware of the customs of this land's court, and as such, currently possess no suitable-"

Mihael and the cat heard Light faintly through the door as he began his little spiel, and as the cat slid through the door, Mihael could have sworn he heard a male voice mutter;

"A _bow_ of all things, goodness. _What_ I do for that human…" darkly.

---------

Light looked up to the figure on the dais. The King's hair was a bright auburn, his eyes a clear (though distinctly bored) emerald green. He wore a white lawn undershirt, boots and leggings, in the very _height_ of fashion, of course. The doublet he wore over this was unpadded, and made of delicate gold brocade beaded with emeralds and the odd diamond, artful slashes baring the barely noticeable white of the undershirt. The crown on his head was not the heavy coronation crown but a plain, unadorned gold circlet resting across his brow, along with the customary jewels. He was young, perhaps a summer or so younger than Light, by his reckoning. He also kept throwing glances between the waiting chamber and an old chess-table at the side of the hall, currently occupied by two old men Light assumed to be close advisors of the King to be ignoring the audience the way they were.

As Light approached the dais and began his speech, the King held up a delicate hand, watching something behind Light, an expression of mild interest creeping onto his previously aloof countenance.

"What is this?" he asked aloud. Light turned and saw the cat named after L. _'Oh no…'_ The cat was sauntering up the hall, calm as you please towards the royal dais. As it passed Light, Light noticed the delicate gold bow around its neck- and the tiny package bound by it. _'Ah- it seems Lord Mihael was right.'_ he thought fondly. _'L __**did**__ come through.'_

"Who owns this cat?" the King asked as it leapt onto the dais and boldly began to curl about the royal's legs, obviously unaware of the great sacrilege the courtiers seemed to think it was performing, judging from the outburst of scandalised chatter.

"It is I." Light told him with a bow, hoping he'd read the King right. If he hadn't, the informal styling of the sentence might cause more trouble. The King did not acknowledge Light further, causing Light to smirk inwardly at his accurate summation, the red-headed monarch apparently more intrigued with the cat. He reached down a bejewelled hand and stroked the cat's fur gently before carefully extricating it from his legs and lifting it to his lap where it sat purring softly. _('Thank God he's on his best behaviour this time.' _Light thought with some relief, remembering the way the cat had swiped at the Lady Misa. _'It is nice to know he can manage it…'_) The King gently began to scratch it behind the dark-marked ears, working his way down around the animal's chin, coaxing it up as he undid the bow with the other hand, taking the package.

Everyone held their collective breath as the King unwrapped said package. You could quite literally have heard a pin drop. Soon the young monarch was examining the unwrapped gift with a wistful smile.

"We find," said the King, using the plural because after all, royalty are worth at least ten normal people, "that your gift is rather pleasing, Marquis. And… the way in which it was delivered to us is also uniquely amusing. You have our favour, Light, Marquis d'Keira." Light was stunned. He- _Light_- held the favour of the King himself! The cat leapt from the King's lap, marking the royal audaciously with its temple before leaping to the ground and racing to Light, pawing at Light's leg with a demanding yowl. Light looked to the King, who flapped his hand in assent, before actually picking up the cat and letting it curl around his neck, both he and the animal heedless of the finery he wore.

"We also wish for you to be seated with us at the royal dais for this evening's feast, Marquis. Ensure your attendance." the King told him, amusement colouring his voice, presumably at the foreigner wearing his pet around his neck. "Now, all of you leave us. We find we desire peace and quiet for the rest of this afternoon." As Light left, he noticed a certain black-clad blond slip into the hall amongst the gaggle of courtiers leaving it, but decided against saying anything. While something to think about, it was not of immediate importance.

---------

Light sighed, resisting the urge to massage his temples wearily. If this was what royal banquets were like, then Light was quite glad he would not have to attend very many of them. L was absent, as was Mika, a fact Light _hated_ that he despised. He sat right at the same table, at the _right hand_ of the King, (whom he found was actually not bad company, despite the infuriating royal 'we') and yet he was still unsatisfied- and he had a horrible feeling he knew why.

Then Light heard chaos erupt from several of the Royal dogs whom were racing about the feet of the lower tables and saw a streak of white and a small animal shaking against his black-clad leg. Automatically he reached down to rescue the cat whom had run to him for shelter, settling it in his lap, mimicking the noise the old mother barn-cat had made when comforting her kittens, stroking its fur reassuringly. The King raised an eyebrow with a smile.

"Is that _your_ cat, Marquis?"

Light nodded. "Your Majesty, I must beg leave, as my cat appears distressed by the Royal dogs…" The King smiled, flipping a hand with a jovial smile firmly in place.

"Yes, yes, go ahead Marquis. We fully understand your wish to leave. Go with our blessing. Good even." Light inclined his head in acknowledgment, cradling the strangely light burden like a baby in his arms as he left.

He'd reached the deserted corridor when he realised that the cat in his arms, though indeed white, did not possess the black markings that L the cat had. It also seemed… smaller, and built more like a kitten then an adult cat.

"Well, who do _you_ belong to, I wonder small one?" he asked aloud.

"I believe that my… friend mistook you for myself, Marquis," came a familiarly accented male voice from behind Light, startling him. Mihael gestured behind him with a sweep of his arm. "And yours mistook myself for you it seems," he continued, voice amused. Indeed, behind the black dressed blond followed a familiar, larger black-marked cat. The kitten in Light's arms gave a meow of recognition and leapt from Light's arms to the floor, padding over to the larger adult cat. It tilted its head to the side and gave the black-marked cat an inquisitive meow. The bigger animal gave a responding, somewhat louder meow and strode towards Light, batting imperiously at his leg in a soundless order. Light raised an eyebrow, but complied, picking it up and allowing it to settle in his loose grasp.

"L, you silly cat." Light said affectionately, using the name he'd given the Lady Misa, though it was no longer entirely a jest.

"_L_ is _**yours**_ then?" Mihael asked, sounding taken-aback, despite having said as much earlier.

"Well of _course_ he is." Light replied with puzzlement as he stroked the cat's soft fur.

Mihael nodded, slight bewilderment apparent on his features. He picked up the tiny kitten that had trotted over to him, allowing the tiny animal to position itself across his shoulders. "Mine often goes by the name Near."

* * *

And here we introduce yet another of my favourites- here comes Near ladies and gentlemen!!

Look out for the next chapter- in which Light meets the King-

_'The King and I'_- Chapter 9 of Matagot, coming soon!

Chapter 8- Done!

Chapter 9- Being Typed!

I hope you all enjoyed, and if you'd like to, feel free to leave a review!

Smile!! :D

~Ireina


	9. The King and I

**Matagot 9- The King and I.**

* * *

Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note. If I did, everything after the Yotsuba arc would not have occured, L and Light would've hooked up two eps after the chain went on and Near, Mello and Matt would've come in in some other fashion (Just because they rock). I do, however own some of the legends attributed with the 'Matagot', (which is a real French myth, who'da thunk it?) and the general AU.

**Warning: AU, Yaoi/Shonen-Ai. If you don't like, please don't read! Rated for later content, possible swearing, definite limes and possible violence. LightxL, possible side pairings to be decided.**

**_EXTRA WARNING!- This chapter contains mention of the Tarot and several cards in particular. _Just in case someone out there has a problem with that, as the meanings listed actually hint slightly at further development in the plot, so I can't really remove them now.  
**

**Flames shall be extinguished with great force because it is bush-fire season and I hate bush-fires. Many Australians do.**

Credit goes to my betas for this chapter- **Shadow of Egypt **and **TsumeLover666** for a truly excellent job!

Thanks go to the following reviewers!! (italics anonymous)

**chibikuro rose-sama**

**Violet Velvetine**

**merichuel**

**Translucent Darkness**

**simply anonymous**

**Star Jinin**

**redfoxrose**

**the-beauty-of-insanity**

**Hentai-Otaku**

**re-harakhti**

**Daydream Nation**

**MeEksiNs**

**_Voice_** ('Tis glad I am that you found it again and continue to enjoy it!)

------------------

Thanks to everyone who wished me well with my studies, it's all going well! I've got a one week lecture recess next week, but unfortunately the recess is so we can do all our damn assignments!! D:

Anyway, I'm working on chapter 10, and hopefully, if all goes well, it should be out sometime next month... (crosses fingers for sooner)

If you have any questions at all, please feel free to ask them either in review or through PM, whichever you prefer!

Thank you all again for continuing to read, and without further ado, here's chapter 9! I hope you all enjoy and if you want to, feel free to leave a review!

Smile! :D

~Ireina

* * *

"And this, Light?"

"It says, 'by Law, by writ of... the'?"

"Correct, continue." L said, nodding encouragingly towards the book.

L had agreed to help Light with his endeavour to learn the noble's script, having produced not only reams of blank vellum, a quill pen and the requisite bottle of ink seemingly from thin air, but also books written in the same language for Light to study from. All of this was currently spread across a conveniently placed low table in the living area of Light's suite of rooms, L having somehow managed to tug said table over to take the best advantage of the light. Surprisingly enough, L had turned out to be an adept teacher- neither condescending towards, nor easy upon, Light.

"...'by writ of the all-righty-'"

"Al_mighty_, Light. Logic, you must remember to apply _logic_ to what you read."  
"I _know, _L, you cut me off before I could correct myself. 'By writ of the Almighty, He who shaped the Heavens and Earth, thee and thine are banished from...' ,well literally that means 'place of peace', but in this context I would be more inclined to say 'Heaven'-"

"That is correct."

"'... banished from Heaven. Go down into the mortal realm, that which is called Earth, and live out your days among the mortal men...' L?" Light asked, uncomfortably aware of how close he was sitting to the other man.

L seemed unaware, his thigh pressed against Light's as the older man leaned over to check the page of text Light had been reading. Light unconsciously drew his breath sharply.

"Mmm?" L hummed absently, frowning at the page.

"This story... it is not a canonical Bible text?" Light asked, pulling himself together.

"No, it is not commonly featured in the Bible- although it has often been referred to in Genesis in several obscure versions I believe."

"Then... what importance does it have? It is just... you would not waste such an opportunity for learning, and I had been sure you would pick something a little more... scholarly than an obscure Biblical story."

L did not answer straightaway, instead trailing his delicate, spider-like fingers over the lettering, an odd expression on his face. "Light is correct. I do not know why I chose to show Light _this_ particularly, although it is excellent practice for his reading of the noble's script..." He trailed off.

"What troubles you?" Light asked, reading beyond the little that L was showing. "Did I cause you insult?" He lightly laid a hand on L's arm, automatically offering comfort. L looked back to Light, surprise written clearly on his face (Clearly, at least, to Light, who had become used to reading the miniscule changes in L's expressions.)

"Light has said nothing of the sort, it is just..." L answered, trailing off with a frown.

"If it is not something that I have said, than why do you seem so _maudlin_? And there is no need to be surprised by my concern; you ought to know by now that you are dear to me."

L's eyes widened and he stared intently at Light. "I... am?"

"Of course you are." Light said in puzzlement, tilting his head to the side, deciding that _whatever_ it was he felt for L, it was safe to say that he _definitely_ cherished L's strange company at the least. L's angular features softened into a small smile- one of the few and far betweenreal ones, albeit with a somewhat… _strange_ quality to it, though Light was hard put to say _what_ it was.

"Light refers to the friendship he claims with me. Of _course_..."

"What else could I have meant?" Light asked, ignoring the gradually more vocal voice in his mind that kept prodding _'You know very well what else you could have- and __**had**__ meant.'_

"True enough. I..."  
"Yes, L?" Light replied expectantly, curious to know what L wanted to say, considering the hesitancy in the older man's voice.

"I find... _most_ unexpectedly, given the circumstances, that..."

"Spit it out, L." Light told him amusedly, disguising a decidedly _strange _sense of excited anticipation.

"I find... that Light is dear to me also." L admitted, voice low and quiet. Light gave a small smile in response, a somewhat unfamiliar feeling of warmth and... well... contentment at the awkward admission spreading through him.

"I am glad of that L. After all, a one-sided friendship is a tad difficult to carry on." he continued, teasing L gently, ignoring that _**stupid**_ little voice that prodded _'__**Friendship**__? Ha!'_

L's gaze left Light's as he turned his head to the side, hair tumbling over his eyes.

"Yes," he echoed. "A bit difficult."

They continued their lesson, though L produced another book for Light to read from for the duration of the rest of it. Their heads, both ravens'-wing black and bronzed gold, bent over the table, Light's clear tenor reading aloud, and L unusually quiet- even for him.

Neither of the two moved away from the close contact between their limbs.

------

Hours later, L heard quiet, near-silent footsteps approaching their position and (reluctantly) moved to a more decorous distance, ignoring Light's questioning glance as he did. The one approaching was far more polite than L himself, for if such as they chose not to be heard, they would not be. Even another of their kind would not be able to hear their coming, despite their... _unusually _strong senses.

There was a soft, polite knock at the door that was in keeping with the personality L theorized would belong to the owner of those footsteps, and a monotonous, young-seeming male voice asked entry. Light arose, trusting to L to hide the remnants of their studies.

When Light opened the door, there, at first, seemed to be no-one there.

"I am _here_, Marquis d'Keira," came a mild voice. By the time Light had looked down and noticed the pale boy, L had already sized up and was warily eyeing the youth, despite his diminutive size.

The young boy was as milk-pale as L, with eyes that were as coal-dark as L's had once been. Even his facial structure was outwardly similar. The difference between the two- near to the _only _visible difference at that- was the snow-white mass of curls the younger male bore, where L possessed straight, ebon-dark locks.

The child spoke. "I am Near, personal servant to the Lord Mihael of the Northern Wastes. I am here bearing an invitation from both milord and His Majesty for both the Marquis and... _Ryuuzaki_." Here he trained those dark eyes onto L with an inquisitive expression. "Your presence is required in the King's private library- it is not a terribly formal affair, and as such, His Majesty does not require you to wear your Court attire. I am to show you both the way." He gave a bow, waiting patiently for their answer.

"Very well. I shall find a cleaner tunic and clean my hands- I've ink all over them like some scribe." Light muttered this last part under his breath, though Ryuuzaki knew that both he and the pale one could hear him perfectly well. The brunet left the sitting room of the suite that he had been accorded as the 'Marquis d'Keira'.

"What is your name, child?" L asked the white-haired boy sharply as soon as Light was out of earshot. "Are you bound to Mihael?"

"I may be referred to as Near- as you know, names possess power over their owners. And as for my binding- Mihael _does_ possess my chain," the boy L now knew as Near tranquilly said. "And I am no child- I am only a summer younger than Mihael, who is not terribly much younger than your Light."

"You jest, surely."

"No, 'Ryuuzaki', I do not. Whyever should I?" Near asked in genuine puzzlement.

L quirked an eyebrow. "Near is a pureblood, is he not?" he asked, though it came out as more of a statement than a question. Near shrugged, delicate shoulders rising.

"I do not know. My earliest memory is of snow. The earliest that features a living being is a vague impression of crystal-blue eyes and warmth," he answered. "Mihael had found me in the snow as not much more than a kitling- he had become lost in the blizzard that claimed his parents." Near did not elaborate much more, though L was quite capable of filling in the blanks.

"Near's binding is that old?" L asked sceptically.

"Oh, I am no longer _bound_ to him."

"Did Near not just say-" L frowned.

"I _said_ that Mihael holds my chain." Near clarified. "I am not _bound_ to him in the fashion I once was."

"I do not understand." L said finally.

Near's eyes widened and something akin to shocked surprise leaked onto his perfectly blank features. "Are you not bound to your Light in the same fashion as I to Mihael? I had assumed your bond was not wholly of the customary nature of our kind, as is my own..." The younger male frowned thoughtfully, fingers coming up to curl into his hair, twisting a select lock in what seemed a habitual gesture.

"I believed there to be only one way of binding for such as us..." L murmured, absently nibbling at the corner of his thumb in his own habitual gesture, though one he had been attempting to suppress.

Near's face turned into a mischievous smirk quite akin to L's own pixie-grin. "Ryuuzaki did, did he?" L's eyes narrowed.

"What exactly are you getting at, Near?" L asked, dropping the irritating name-game he... _occasionally_ adopted.

"Ah, I am sure that 'Ryuuzaki' would like to know."

"What would Ryuuzaki like to know?" Light asked distractedly as he re-entered, fiddling with the tiny buttons that ran the length of the tunic's back, unable to _quite_ reach them.

"It is nothing, Light." L told the auburn-brown haired male, moving to assist, his long deft fingers making short work of the buttons.

"Shall we go now then?" Near asked blandly, face back to its motionless doll-like mask.

------

The two older males followed the diminutive white figure through the twisting halls and passageways, all three of them ignoring the whispers following them like wildfire with a lofty dignity. They finally came to a stop in a near-deserted corridor in front of a heavy wooden door. Without bothering to knock Near opened the door.

"Your Majesty, Mihael, the Marquis and Ryuuzaki accepted your invitation."

"I am certain that you probably worded it in such a way that they believed it was an order, not a request, sheep." Mihael chuckled amusedly, concentrating on the chessboard between him and an almost normal-seeming red-head.

"It really _was_ just a request." the red-head murmured absently, attention _completely _on the board. "If you were busy with other affairs, please feel free to attend them- you needn't feel obligated to stay if you do not wish to." The red-haired man's fingers (which had been hovering over an exquisitely carved footman.) suddenly plucked forth a priest and moved it along the chequered board. "I believe that is check." he addressed the blond man gleefully, looking up with his emerald eyes flashing.

"Your _Majesty?_" Light asked in astonishment. He looked... _young_! Younger even than Light!

"His Majesty plays chess, does he?" L asked with interest.

"Please, just call me Matt here." the red-head said, flapping a hand at the two with an easygoing smile. "We are all discreet here, and I know I (for one) hate being always merely 'Your Majesty' or 'Your Highness' and never myself. And besides which, it's truly _strange_ to be called 'Your Majesty' by people many times my senior. It makes me feel like _such _a fraud."

"I can relate to such distastes, Your Ma... err... 'Matt'." Light said fervently.

"Yes, I noticed your distaste when I addressed you, though you hid it extraordinarily well- even compared to the other noble's skill at hiding their thoughts. It is why I thought you might just be another interesting companion. And besides, I enjoyed your gift..." Matt trailed off for a second before continuing. "And the stunt with the cat immensely."

"Mihael would do well to heed my advice." remarked Near out of the blue.

"I am _telling _you to let me do this my way, Near. I am _perfectly_ capable!" exclaimed said blond irritably.

"I know that Mihael is capable. But he would also do well to listen to others- more specifically myself - on a more regular basis." Near answered the blond noble's retort with tranquil serenity, as though he was _quite_ used to such treatment and, judging from the tiny, almost L-like smile playing about the corners of his mouth, was even amused by it.

Mihael did not reply to this, instead picking up his finely-painted king and moving it backwards. The king picked up his delicate-seeming queen and brought it to bear, effectively trapping Mihael's most valuable piece.

"Checkmate, Mihael. Perhaps you really _should_ listen to Near on occasion; he has quite the brain for one of such low birth," the green-eyed king crowed amusedly.

Light could not help shifting awkwardly in place at that statement.

"Oh _shut up_ Matt!" groused Mihael, accent thickening.

"One of these days I'm really going to have to do something about all this _disrespect_ you keep exhibiting." Matt replied, twirling his own miniature likeness between his fingers, brow raised in a further display of amusement. "I believe the dungeons are quite empty at this time of the season."

"You _wouldn't_…" Light asked in alarm.

"Of course not and well he knows it," snorted the odd king. "It's the only reason he does it. If for one minute he thought I'd follow through, Near wouldn't allow Mihael's nature to rule him. Provides the perfect balance for the impulsive foreigner."

Mihael muttered something in another language that had Near and L snorting in amusement.

"I'm fairly certain-" Matt said to Light confidingly. "-that he has just insulted me and perhaps my family in a _most_ inventive way."

"Whatever gave that impression, Your- _ahem_, Matt? I'm sure Mihael wouldn't be _that_ disrespectful." Light responded, voice dripping with sarcasm.

"I'm not sure…" Matt said with mock-thoughtfulness. "It could have been the laughter…"

"Ah." Light nodded sagely. "That _would _give one such an impression, I suppose. Are you _certain_?"

"Quite."

"I suppose you ought really to do something about that."

"And what might _you_ suggest, Light?" Matt asked lazily, quirking an eyebrow.

Light gave a boyish grin. "You're a royal- how many languages do _you_ speak with your neighbours?"

Matt mirrored Light's grin. "I speak two with some fluency. Would you care to join me?" Matt asked, grin turning to a devilish smirk. Light laughed.

"That _would _be rather amusing… And I have a few insults I should like to serve to Mihael."

"He's _already_ gotten on your bad side? It took him a seven-day with my court."

"Mihael was with me in the waiting chamber, and he took it into his head to push me into your hall in a manner _most _disrespectful. If you had not been so generous a monarch…" Light trailed off purposefully.

"You did seem rather graceless." said monarch acknowledged.

"It was merely a jest." Mihael rolled his eyes. "You just need to get a sense of humour."

"I have one." Light retorted sharply. "But as I said, if the King had been half as capricious as the rest of his court, he could well have interpreted my graceless entry as a deliberate attempt to demean a young and recently ascended king in the eyes of his courtiers." Light's golden eyes became gimlets, boring into Mihael's blue ones. The blond shifted, the only indication of unease. "And you should know, as a fellow noble, what the punishment is for inciting treason." he added softly, knowing that conspiring against one's rightful ruler must _surely _carry severe consequences.

"He is quite right, Mihael, that jest was in poor taste." Matt pointed out.

"I knew you wouldn't care." Mihael flapped a hand dismissively. Matt narrowed his green eyes.

"It is still a politically bad move." Near commented. "What happens if Mihael finds himself in need of a favour from the Marquis and finds him disinclined to assist because of Mihael's 'jest'?"

"I am not _that_ angry over the matter!" Light protested weakly, somewhat uncomfortable with the blossoming conflict between the other foreign noble and his servant.

Nonetheless, Near continued, heedless of Light's interruption. "I believe I have spoken with Mihael about the dangers of such impulsive actions."

"Impulsive action!? It was merely a _jest_, Near!"

"Mihael has become careless in his time in this land. If we were in the court of the Czar once more, that sort of stunt would have been fatal for Light; Mihael knows this full well," the white-haired boy pointed out, dark eyes seeming almost to flash. "I cannot and will not allow Mihael to die merely because he has become _lax_."

"Calm yourself, and remember whose company you share." L pointed out warningly. Near's gaze shot to him.

"You would say the same to your Light." he said softly, but with a knife's edge to his voice. L made to reply, but was interrupted.

"It is well, Ryuuzaki." the king said faintly, beckoning the male and Light to follow him as Near and Mihael resumed their 'discussion', completely ignoring the other three. "Those two are _forever _at it hammer and tongs. One becomes used to such arguing." His expression turned pensive. "And yet you'll not see a pair more suited than those two."

"A… _pair_?" Light asked in astonishment, though managing somehow to hide his awkward discomfort as he felt his body remember L's almost-caress.

"Did you not know? They hide it admirably, though of course, they must if they're not to be hunted down as heretics."

"Your Majesty approves?"  
"'Matt', Ryuuzaki." said male chastised. "And it is more a matter of looking the other way. Judging from your gift, Light, you know why I look the other way for them." Matt gave a small, bitter smile.

"Your royal blood would hinder any such relationship. The Crown must have divine favour from the Church- and the monarchy must get heirs. Is that why Your Majesty remains as yet unwed?" L asked the question in his usual blunt manner.

The red-head raised an eyebrow, nodding slowly. "Partly. And it is also that none of the ladies at Court who are suitable have half the wit I would like- they are empty-headed featherbrains. If I _must_ marry, I would marry a woman whom can at least hold a half-decent conversation."

Light raised an eyebrow, connecting. _'What of the Lady Misa?' _he wondered. _'If I were to introduce His Majesty to her, it would solve all our troubles nicely. She would be able to leave me alone and escape a distasteful marriage- they would get along well enough. Besides, who could wed higher than the reigning monarch?'_ he thought smugly.

"It seems to me," L said carefully, just as those thoughts flashed through Light's head, "that the Marquis knows a particular Lady with a similar attitude to yourself."

Light shot a glare at L. Trust him to think of the same thing, and steal Light's thunder to boot.

"Oh he _does_, does he? If that is so, then why, pray tell, has Light not snatched such a gem for himself?" Matt asked amusedly, addressing L.

"Frankly, I have no interest in the woman." Light told the king. "And because, unlike myself, people would care what lovers you took outside of wedlock." he added with quiet compassion. L looked at Light with a tiny hint of surprise on his delicately-boned face. "The Lady I am thinking of is the picture of discretion. If you _were_ to take lovers, she would breathe not a word. She knows she will not wed for love as a noble. She is clever, and none could fault you for choosing her. Her bloodline and appearance are both impeccable."

"If she is such a treasure, then why is she not wed?"

"She is only recently come to Court- her family's lands are in the countryside." Light explained.

The King nodded thoughtfully. "And what might this Lady's name be then, hm?" he asked, giving a canny smile, as though he had already figured it out.

"Her name is the Lady Misa of the Amane House, heiress to the Duke of Felrawthy."

"She also bears the title of Comtesse` d'Angelline` from her mother's family- it is an estate passed through the maternal line." added the young, red-haired monarch thoughtfully, picking up a crystal decanter filled with an amber liquid, pouring a measure into one of the glasses beside it. "Whiskey?" he asked. L shook his head.

"I do not drink Your Majesty." He told Matt serenely, who shook his head, apparently giving up on having L refer to him by name.

"Light?"

"I do not wish to be impolite, but I'm afraid I've no head for liquor." Light told him, glaring at the decanter of golden-brown liquid, remembering how it had apparently made quite the fool of him. Matt raised an eyebrow dubiously, but did not insist.

"Suit yourself." He shrugged, sipping at the drink with appreciation on his face.

"It would seem Mihael and his companion are reconciled." L suddenly announced. Light tilted his head to the side, listening. Indeed, there was nothing but quiet, the raised voices having lowered to a tolerable murmuring.

"They must be; it's as silent as the grave." Matt remarked casually, flopping back onto one of the oddly _worn_ (considering it's placement in the King's personal rooms) armchair positioned by the fireplace (which was, as yet, unlit.). His features stretched into an easy smile, lifting a deck of cards from the side-table carved from some darkish-grained wood. "Care to play a round or two?" he asked. L and Light exchanged a glance, L shaking his head minutely. Light shrugged.

"If you like." He replied, sitting down as the King dealt him his hand. This signified the end of their previous (somewhat awkward) conversation, loaded with hidden meaning.

------

Those little gatherings continued over the course of the stay of the Duke's entourage at Court, always with the same five people (or, occasionally, four and one kitten that would either drape over Mihael's neck or sit on L's lap). They had a routine, of sorts; L and Light would arrive last, and a game of chess would be played between Matt and Mihael, and then occasionally Near might play against L. Whiskey would be shared out, and then while Mihael and Matt chatted amicably about minutiae, Near and L patiently taught Light the finer points of chess; something which Light picked up at lightning speed. At some point after this would always come a call for a game of cards (usually from Matt, who seemed to enjoy all games with a _passion_). It was at this point of one such gathering that something... unusual occurred.

------

"Cards now, gentlemen?" asked Matt. Everyone nodded assent, aside from L and Near, both of whom never played and seemed to be content to watch. The red-haired King picked up the cards with a flourish, automatically shuffling them deftly.

"Those are not the usual cards," L noted sharply. Mihael turned over one of the deck.

"He's right- someone's put Near's 'divination' cards here instead."

Light looked to the white-haired youth. "Divination cards?" he asked in amusement. "Careful who finds out about that- those fanatical priests may decide to burn you for witchcraft!" he joked. Both L and Near glared at him. Light shifted uncomfortably in his seat._ 'Well __**that**__ was intelligent.'_ he thought to himself, wondering how on _Earth_ he could have forgotten about the burning sentence that he himself had rescued L from. They both seemed to notice his discomfort and accepted it as a silent apology.

Near nodded solemnly, speaking in his usual monotone. "Now that the cards have been shuffled and dealt you must read them. Obviously they must have something important to say to turn up like that." The three would-be card players each raised an eyebrow. Matt shrugged, grinning.

"There's none of the clergy here to see us- we may as well. It's all merely a bit of fun anyway, is it not?" with that, he turned over his three cards. The first bore a picture of two lovers, each bearing a cup with their wrists linked in the pagan joining ceremony. At the top was the number two in Roman numerals.

"The Two of Cups." L remarked. "Love and passion, union and affinity." Those words sounded just _strange _when said with L's removed monotonous voice.

"But reversed." pointed out Near. "And so, the meaning: - unrequited love, isolation, emotional pain and disillusionment." Matt's face went pale, though he didn't say a word.

The second card bore the picture of an older man in a red robe sitting on a gold throne with a staff in one hand.

"The Hierophant." Near continued. "In this case- marriage."

The third card showed a black-cloaked figure looking sidelong at three over turned cups, with another two standing.

"The Five of Cups. Grief and loss," Near said simply.

"But some cups are still left on the card- oughtn't that mean that it's not _all_ bad?" Light asked.

L turned suddenly darkened grey eyes sharply to him. "Very good- you are right."

"Mihael." Near said, turning to him expectantly.

Said blond snorted, turning his three over. "Three of Pentacles, Ten of Cups and Temperance," he said. "And I _know_ what they mean, Near." Under his breath he continued; "I've been around you for how many years? Of _course_ I picked some of your meanings up."

Light tentatively reached for his own three, flipping them over. There was a great intake of breath from all and sundry save the cartomancer himself and Matt.

"The Tower." Near said quietly, pointing at the first card. "Misery, distress and ruin. Calamity, disgrace and deception." He pointed next to the middle card, in which a naked lady poured an urn into a lake and another onto the ground, with stars above her head. "The Star. While it can be a happy and hopeful card, in this context I would be highly inclined to use the alternate reading. Loss, deprivation and abandonment." In a _highly _uncharacteristic show of sympathy his voice softened as he pointed to the final card. "But, you see? According to this card, all is not lost." He sent a quick glance to L before continuing. "The Lovers. Attraction, love, the beginning of a meaningful relationship, and trials overcome."

L left the room abruptly, ignoring the various calls to come back and rejoin the group. Light watched, puzzled yet wanting to get up and follow, though torn as to whether it would be wise to risk running after his servant instead of staying in the King's company.

------

'_Tower, Star, Lovers, Tower, Star, Lovers, Tower, Star…'_ The litany of the cards drawn to Light kept repeating, despite L's best efforts to shut it off. He let out a hiss of frustration, anger and pain, unknowingly startling a liveried servant hurrying in the opposite direction. He was not a cartomancer, and his strength was not best focused through inanimate objects in the areas of divination and seeking of the future. Despite this however, he knew enough of the art well enough to interpret the cards and apply them. The Tower alone would have been an ill omen of great worry, but when taken in conjunction with the message of abandonment… L knew all too well where _that _came from.

Their Court visit would be over soon, and then he and Light would be returning to the Duke's manor, with only Mikami as an ally, and a dubious one to his mind at best. If L allowed Light to return to that place, the foretelling of the cards might well come to pass- something that he would do much to prevent. Yet at the same time, the only chance for L to gain his freedom- that most treasured of prizes - was for them to return there, and he knew that was the truth with all that he was. Therefore, he was at an impasse. Should he endanger Light, the master he was not only bound to, but one whose life he would _choose_ to protect, even at the cost of his own? Or should he allow their return, risking certain danger to potentially earn freedom from servitude, something that was hard-wired into all of his kind to seek out, trusting to his own strength (and to a certain degree, Mikami's) to keep Light safe?

L looked down at his hand, which he had flipped palm-up, staring at the far too short life-line. He closed his eyes for a minute, before ducking into an alcove behind one of the tapestries along the wall and decided to hide from his dilemma in a mind that did not think so much like a human's.

* * *

I just love the way Near interacts with L in this chapter, they're kind of cute. :3

If anyone has questions about the Tarot cards mentioned (including Mello's- I didn't mention those because they really aren't terribly plot-integral, so... Besides, I can see Mello just brushing the issue of his 'reading' off in that fashion, at least in public.) , PM me and I'll do my best! I read the cards, but I'm very amateur. I have therefore put quite some research into these meanings just to make sure.

The next chapter as I mentioned isn't quite ready for typing so I'm envisaging a month approximately for it to be written and typed. I'm hoping I can do it far sooner, but with luck you'll have chapter 10 before next month sometime. (Apologies!)

Chapter 9- Done!

Chapter 10- In the process of hand-writing.

I hope you all enjoyed, and if you'd like to, feel free to leave a review!

Smile!! :D

~Ireina


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